Home » Home & Style » Home Repair » Home Improvements that Pay You Back

Home Improvements that Pay You Back

© Chris Arnold

For most of us "home improvement" really comes down to what we need. It may be that our kitchen just isn't big enough, or that we really need another bathroom. That is usually what drives us to make changes in our home. But sometimes we are thinking about selling our home sometime down the road and we are trying to think of what we could do to increase the value of the house. It may come as a surprise that just because you put some money into your home, it does not mean you are going to get that money back out when you go to sell the house. There are some projects in which you could spend thousands and not find it increase the price of your home at all.

The MSN Home Advisor recently ran an article demonstrating some of the projects that will reflect well toward the value of your home. They also listed some that would not. http://homeadvisor.msn.com/improve/which...

Some of these may surprise you, and some may surprise you by home much of a percentage you may be able to recoup. I was surprised by the fact that you can usually recover 100% of the cost of replacing your heating system and 75% for air conditioning.

One big surprise for many may be the fact that you will often only recover about 15% of the cost of finishing a basement. One reason that I can think of for this is that most of us finish basements for our personal needs and tastes and this will often be different from our potential buyers.

One thing to keep in mind is that this chart is based on resale value, not on what the improvements do while you are still in the home. For example, according to this chart replacing your windows will return 68 to 74% of your investment but this does not include your utilities savings once the new windows are in place or the added convenience from windows that actually work.

Also they say that adding a bathroom will return 92% of your investment, but how much more convenient is it going to be for you and your spouse if you don't have to wait for your teenage daughter to get out of the bathroom?

Another point that I thought was very interesting was thought they found that installed or upgraded landscaping returned 30 to 60% of the investment. I would say that this may be even more if that landscaping is done appropriately in the front yard. The value of that first impression when a potential buyer first drives up to the home is priceless.

The copyright of the article Home Improvements that Pay You Back in Home Repair is owned by . Permission to republish Home Improvements that Pay You Back in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.