Home Renovations & Garage Door ROI

The home renovations covered in Remodeling's Cost vs Value survey offer homeowners insight into the cost and resale value of specific home improvements. In this article from Newsday, about renovations that return good value, Overhead Doors, a manufacturer and exclusive distributor of their own garage door products, shares data from the Cost vs Value report.

Homeowners should look beyond these numbers to prioritize their home improvements. First consider how many years you expect to live in your home and which projects will improve your lifestyle. You also want to understand which projects will help you sell your home, and how much you of your home improvement investment you can expect to recover when you sell your home.

Note that of the 35 projects surveyed, the only ones that cost less than $5,000 are entry doors and garage doors. These doors tend to fall towards the top of the scale with respect to value on resale, because they influence curb appeal.

Home Renovations Popular Today

In fact many of today's most popular home remodeling projects like landscaping and creating open concept floor plans, aren't included in the survey. One might guess this is because many remodeling projects aren't tied to specific projects and manufacturers that want feedback.

Remodeling.com's Cost vs Value report is a great tool for homeowners to gauge how much to spend on projects. Ideally, you should make one home improvement each year, or every other year, alternating with home maintenance and repairs like cleaning and sealing decks. Priorities should start with safety first, then keeping your home dry to avoid major repairs. Next is energy efficiency where replacement windows come in. Then pick home improvements that you'll enjoy and help you sell your home more easily, for the price you want.

Resources to Help Prioritize Home Renovations

For help prioritizing which home improvements will add more value to your home, you can talk to realtors and appraisers in your local market. It's also fun and educational to visit open houses to learn what other homeowners (your future competition) have done to their homes.

For projects covered in Remodeling.com's Cost vs Value report, you can learn what's included in these projects along with average costs for the region of the country where you live. We also summarize the results each year to give you more insight, like last years Top 10 Home Renovations.