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When remodeling, most people hope to get most of their money back if they ever decide to sell the house. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of renovations, this simply is not the case. Based on research conducted by Remodeling Magazine, here are the best and worst remodels in terms of getting your money’s worth in resale value.

The Best 3:

Door Replacement: This is by no means a huge renovation, but according to national averages, replacing a wooden exterior door, hinges, etc. with a steel one is the only project that has a positive return on investment. On average, making this change leads to a value increase of 102% the cost. After you sell, you’ll likely net around $25.

Adding Stone Veneer: Replacing the lower portion of your siding with a manufactured stone veneer is a big aesthetic change to the exterior of your house for a relatively low price. Because of this, you can gain a lot of your money back in resale value. The increase in the value of your house will likely be about 92% of what you spend. Your net loss will probably be around $550.

Garage Door Replacement: Replacing your garage door, especially if moving from a manual to automated setup, will make your home much more valuable. Perhaps due to the security factor, this is the second exterior door in our top three. They are easy and lucrative things to replace to get more value out of your home. Even if you replace an older automated door for a new one, you are still likely to recoup 88% of your cost.

The Worst 3:

Sunroom Addition: Building a sunroom on the side of your house is a poor investment. It’ll likely cost you well over $70,000 and you are only likely to see 48% of that returned to you in resale value. If you really want a sunroom, then go for it, but if you are looking for an option that will add value to your house, don’t even consider it.

Home Office Remodel: Taking a spare bedroom and installing some desks, cabinetry, phone hooks-ups, etc. to transform it into a home office can be a great change for some people. The problem is, it eliminates a bedroom, hurting the value of your home. The bump from the office is offset by the loss of a bedroom and only about 49% of your investment will be recouped in resale value.

Master Suite Addition: Doing an upscale addition of an extra bedroom, bathroom, hallway, and closet can make an excellent supplement to your existing home. While it may cost you upwards of $250,000, it can make it seem like you are living in a new house. Unfortunately, because it can cost as much as a new home, you will not see a good return on your investment. Only about 54% of your investment will be an addition in the value of your home.

Simply from an investment perspective, renovations do not seem to do great things for your home’s value. Only one of the renovations listed paid for itself. A key reason for this is labor. Remodels, especially larger projects, require a lot of time and labor costs and are very rarely done as efficiently as possible. Sadly, the added value of the home rarely moves beyond the cost of the physical improvements, meaning that labor costs are usually not recouped in full. This being said, ROI is only one factor and renovating still has a lot of positives. Updating your home will make it look great and can make your time in it much more enjoyable. Purely as an investment, renovations may not be ideal, but from a quality of life perspective, they are often very worth it.