Remodel costs vs. value

For you fellow home-improvement do-it-yourselfers, are you curious about how much value you're adding to your home with your remodel? Is the $45,000 kitchen upgrade your planning going to add $45,000 to the price tag when you decide to sell? It's a valid question, and something you should explore before planning your remodel. The answer may surprise you, and will probably influence your planning decisions, such as how much to spend on your remodel, how big your remodel project should be, and possibly whether to do the remodel or not.

I've heard many an eager home-owner claim that their remodel investment dollars will be returned 100% or more. But the truth may surprise you: it is rare to get 100% of your money back on a remodel. In certain circumstances, such as a great price on a foreclosure, or a flip, you may be able to get a dollar-for-dollar match on your investment or more. But the average home-owner should plan to see less than 100% return on the dollar amount they invest.


There is an amazing online resource that can help you take the guessing out of your remodel decisions. It's the Cost vs. Value website, where they use national, regional, and city data to produce a report that shows the cost vs. value for most project types. Of course the data is derived from averages, which means that the dollar values are not going to reflect the actual costs that you may encounter. But they are a powerful tool for setting expectations before you start smashing walls.


Click here to watch a webinar that gives an overview of the report.