Best Home Improvements For Resale 2021

Since the onset of the pandemic, our homes have played a key role in keeping us safe and healthy.  As a result, many homeowners have decided to renovate their homes to improve the quality of their lives and not necessarily add value to their homes but wouldn’t it be nice to renovate and also eventually get a return on your renovation costs?

Since the start of COVID-19, many homeowners have made improvements to their homes for aesthetic and also for recreational purposes.  Outdoor living spaces and pools have seen a spike in renovations since early 2020.  Interestingly enough home buyers have also been placing increased importance on these elements since the pandemic. 

The challenging housing market conditions have put additional importance on home renovations, for those both looking to stay and those considering selling. More than half of those that renovated their homes in 2020 did so with the intention of living in their homes, with 29% of them renovating to improve their lifestyle for non-essential reasons such as aesthetic and/or recreational purposes, and 29% renovating for essential reasons such as safety and maintenance.  Interestingly enough only 16% stated they renovated to increase the market value of their home or in order to sell within the next couple of years.  

Although the trend of renovating for personal use and enjoyment, 59% did say they always consider the return on investment that the renovation will have on their home’s market value.  

So what home improvements are renovations will result in the largest return on investment when it comes time to sell a home?

5 Home Improvements With Highest ROI

1. Kitchen Renovations/Improvements 

Kitchen renovations have the largest return on investment – such as kitchen counter upgrades rate as the top home improvement with a return on investment in the range of 75% to 100%. Here are some tips on creating a dream kitchen on a budget dream kitchen tips. 

2. Paint 

When it comes to an economical way to change a look and feel of a home you can’t go wrong with a fresh coat of paint.  A fresh coat of paint is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to update a home and will result in a minimum of 60% return on investment.  This can mean modernizing kitchen cupboards with a fresh coat of paint, painting walls, doors, and trims. 

3. Bathroom Renovations

A bathroom remodel is one of the renovations to do before selling a home as they typically result in at least a 62% return on investment.  When you are considering selling your home bathroom renovations will be one of the best ways to increase the value of your home.  Kitchen and bathrooms will quite often sell homes and renovating these will definitely result in your home selling quicker and for top dollar.  

4. Flooring

 
New flooring is absolutely one of the best investments when it comes to selling a home as new flooring can typically result in a 100% to 150% return on your investment.   However, the best-kept secret on new flooring is not necessarily all about the quality but how it is installed – so this should be a renovation job that you hire a professional for and definitely not one that you want to wing on your own. 

5. Finished Basement 

A finished basement adds additional living space.  However, you do not need to give the basement a complete makeover – which can get expensive.  If you are wondering how you can give your basement a makeover without extensive renovations?  Remember anything that will save the new owners money should be at the top of your list such as improvements that will prevent flooding in the future.
 
Of course, home renovations that are required for maintenance or repair purposes should always take precedence such: as leaky plumbing, electrical problems, leaky roofs, or basements. 

In our current real estate market conditions, new listings are selling quickly and in the recent pandemic, we are seeing a strong shift toward outdoor upgrades and amenities.  With the particular popularity of outdoor pools and living spaces, click here for trends.  However, much of this demand for outdoor spaces has been prompted by the pandemic and is a trend that is not anticipated to be a permanent trend.  Kitchen, bathroom, and flooring renovations will continue to be regarded as the renovations that will result in the best return on investment went it comes time to sell.  

Are you thinking of doing some remodeling or renovations and would like a realtor’s perspective and what will give you the best return reach out – it would be my pleasure to help.