Renovate to increase your home’s comfort and resale value

Renovations can increase your home’s resale value and add to your current enjoyment of it. Some renovations make a greater difference than others. To maximize your return on investment (ROI), target the following indoor and outdoor areas. The value of the changes might surprise you.

On the Inside

Gain the best ROI by renovating the bathroom and kitchen. In the bathroom, put in new flooring. Update the tub, ensuring it also features a shower. Update the faucets and fixtures. In the kitchen, update the appliances and make sure they match. Add a mobile island in the center. Update the sinks and faucets. Install a water filtration system. Add a backsplash and paint. Replace flooring in poor condition. In every room, ditch the popcorn ceilings for a smooth surface. Deep clean your home regularly. Light clean weekly. Keep up with regular home maintenance, too.

A home inspection costs less than $100, but identifies every problem so you can tackle them. Even if it’s a long list, each improvement adds to your enjoyment, your ROI and many can immediately cut your energy bills. Most utilities offer free energy audits. This identifies items like faulty wiring and drafty windows. Caulk is cheap. You can quickly cut utility bills by caulking drafts at windows and doors. Adding attic insulation also costs little, but makes the home more comfortable year around and reduces bills. Include a separate indoor air quality inspection. Fixing the issues it turns up will produce a healthier environment for residents and guests.

Curb Appeal

You can quickly turn off a buyer at your curb. Repair a cracked or sagging foundation. Clean the yard and landscape it using plants indigenous to the area, especially drought hardy plants. The yard will look great year around and you’ll save on your water bill. Trim and shape the bushes and hedges. Plant a tree or two. Today’s sapling grows into tomorrow’s shade tree. Properly placed, a shade tree cuts cooling costs up to 40 percent.

Repair your roof. Have a roof inspection conducted. Even if you don’t see interior leaks, you could be missing enough shingles that it’s about to spring a leak. Worse the roof may have leaks that flow into the interior of outer walls. There are four inches of space inside each wall leaving plenty of room for damage to amass unseen until the siding or drywall rots through.

Add Some Space

Add a bathroom and another bedroom or a family room. A three or four bedroom home with only one bathroom appeals less to buyers than one with two bathrooms. A good contractor can turn a utility room or walk-in closet into a bathroom in no time. If you’ve no closet to sacrifice, consider an attic or loft conversion. Costs vary depending the roof type and height, but start at $10,000 and go up to $40,000. That investment usually nets the homeowner a couple of new bedrooms, a bathroom and a closet. The big plus of expanding up, or down, if you have an unfinished basement, is you avoid needing to extend the foundation. Foundation extension adds the greatest cost to expanding out, as opposed to up or down.

Not So Basic

Let the Internet of Things help you create a modern home with smart locks, kitchen appliances you can control with an app, smart scales and automatic pool cleaners. The beauty of these home automation gadgets is your ability to control your home on the go. Start dinner while still at the office, unlock the door from your car. You’ll update your older structure into an ultramodern abode with a few small investments. Most of the gadgets mentioned cost $300 or less, but save these updates for after you’ve completed the basics.

A few simple renovations can add immensely to the value of your home. Target its curb appeal, roof health, bathrooms, kitchen and add space to maximize resale value.