Homeowners

Planning to Upgrade Your Home? These 10 Improvements Offer the Best ROI

October 17, 2024

Homeowners hoping to get the best bang for their home improvement bucks may want to forgo the high-end kitchen and chic bathroom remodels—and replace their garage doors instead.

Outdoor improvements netted the highest returns on investments when homeowners sold their properties, according to Zonda’s 2024 Cost vs. Value report.

“Small improvements in design details on the outside of the home are driving higher home values,” said Todd Tomalak, principal of building products at the real estate consultancy Zonda. “It’s the first impression that potential buyers have of the home.”

The most profitable improvement was a garage door replacement. That cost homeowners about $4,513—and gave them a roughly 194% ROI (return on investment).

“It’s a relatively low-cost investment that gets a lot of juice,” said Tomalak.

Meanwhile, a major kitchen remodel cost about $79,982—and only offered about a 50% ROI.

Bathrooms were a bit more profitable. A mid-range remodel set homeowners back about $25,251. But they were able to recoup about 74% of their investment.

Homeowners may want to look into home improvement loans to help them cover the costs of the work.

“People are willing to invest in their kitchens and bathrooms because they get to experience the benefits. They get more kitchen, they get to soak in the bathtub, they get to entertain,” said Tomalak. “You might not get all the money back, but you get to enjoy it.”

Before someone begins doing expensive work on their home, they should figure out how much longer they plan to live in it. If it’s their forever home, then ROI may not matter to them.

However, if they’re planning on selling in the next few years, then they may want to focus on outdoor improvements, said Tomalak.

And homeowners trying to save a few bucks may not want to put off making pricier home improvements. Tomalak cautioned that labor costs are expected to rise.

“If we fast forward two years from now, what we’re going to see is costs go up pretty significantly,” said Tomalak. “If you wait, it will get even more expensive down the road to do the same improvement.”