When doing home improvement projects, homeowners often focus on the inside of the home. And while it’s true that projects such as remodeling a kitchen and bath can add value and make your home easier to sell, you can add more value and improve your home’s chances of selling by concentrating on the outside of your home as well.
Exterior improvements don’t have to be major. While you can hire commercial roofing contractors to put a new roof on your home, that’s not likely to bring you a large return on your investment. On the other hand, some fairly simple exterior improvements can add almost as much value as you spend on them. For example, replacing your front door will bring you a return on investment of about 98%, meaning if you spend $1,000, you home should increase in value by about $980. The good thing about such an improvement is that it doesn’t cost that much, meaning it is something most homeowners should be able to do. Other fairly inexpensive exterior improvements that tend to add a lot of value relative to what you spend are replacing your garage door and adding or repairing a deck.
Some exterior improvements cost a lot of money while adding value. For example, replacing siding can cost thousands of dollars, but it also has a good return on investment. Replacing windows can easily cost five figures depending on the size of your house, but it returns close to 80% of what you spend. In addition, improvements such as new doors and windows can have other benefits. For example, they can increase your energy efficiency, so over the life of the investment, with the return on your investment combined with the lowered energy costs, you might break even or even make money. Hiring commercial roofing contractors to replace your roof isn’t going to bring you a huge return on investment, but having a properly functioning roof is something you need, and if you are selling your home, having a roof with problems can make it very hard to find a buyer.
When looking for improvements to do to your home to increase value, don’t think only about the interior. Exterior improvements such as new doors, a new deck or landscaping improvements can greatly increase your home’s value and make it easier to sell.