Remodeling Cost Recovery Now Available
Homeowners can now discover how much remodeling projects add to their home’s value.
Remodeling Magazine has released its annual Cost vs. Value Report. The 2009-10 report covers 80 U.S. cities and is available for download at www.costvsvalue.com. On this site, you can compare national and regional averages for 33 popular remodeling projects. You can also download a PDF with project data for any one of 80 U.S. cities. The report contains data that compares construction costs for popular remodeling projects against the share of those costs recovered at resale. In addition to city data, the report includes tables with national and regional averages, as well as complete project descriptions. Data are grouped in nine U.S. regions, following the divisions established by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report was produced by Hanley Wood, LLC.
On a national level, the project with the biggest improvement from 2008 was the attic bedroom addition, recouping 83.1 percent of remodeling costs compared to 73.8 percent in 2008. The only other interior project that landed in the top 10 was a minor kitchen remodel with 78.3 percent costs recouped.
Other exterior projects in the top 10 include midrange vinyl and upscale foam-backed vinyl sliding replacements, which returned more than 79 percent of costs. In addition, several types of window replacements – midrange wood, midrange vinyl, and upscale vinyl – all returned more than 76 percent of costs upon sale.
Similar to last year’s report, the least profitable remodeling projects in terms of resale value were home office remodels and sunroom additions, returning only 48.1 percent and 50.7 percent of project costs.
Even though they don’t usually return 100% of their cost, a remodeling job that remedies an extremely dated kitchen or bath can make the difference in selling your home. In most cases there will be some easy parts of the job that the homeowner can do himself to save money. Painting is one example. Don’t look at a remodeling job only from the perspective of resale value. That’s a consideration that belongs in the calculation, but the enjoyment of an improvement is another important factor. If you plan to stay in the same home for the next five years or more, the difference between whether a project that you wanted to enjoy adds 50% or 80% to the resale value becomes less relevant.