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There are two types of home improvements. The first are those you do purely for yourself: the gorgeous kitchen skylight your wife has been dreaming about … or that basement game room that will make all the other guys on the block jealous. The second type of home improvements is less exciting. It is often much more practical, and just as exciting in its own way: because this type of home improvement can potentially add lots of value to your home—especially when it comes time to sell. However, knowing which projects will add value to your home (and which may not) is not always so obvious.
The kitchen—not our bedrooms—is where most families spend the majority of their time. Thus it’s not surprising that even the smallest improvements to your kitchen can pay big dividends. Small-ticket items such as a new paint job, wallpaper, or floor can add considerable value. Furthermore, sanding, staining or painting old cabinets, or replacing old kitchen cabinet hardware will make your room appear infinitely nicer—adding thousands to your home’s value. Experts recommend using classic styles, with high-quality materials.
Adding an extra bathroom, complete with tub, shower and ceramic tile, sink and marble vanity, is one improvement that will almost entirely pay for itself when it comes time to sell the home. Recent studies have shown that an extra bathroom will net almost 75% of its value.
Even more profitable than an extra bathroom is the addition of a deck. In fact, adding a deck can be the single most valuable home improvement you can make (not to mention the most cost-effective way to add square footage to a home). New decks generally recoup an astounding 85% of their value. That means that if you installed one today—not only could you enjoy it for years, you could also expect to make back 85% of the money you spent.
The benefits of going green and the money you’ll save on utility bills should be reasons enough to consider energy-efficient improvements. However, these energy-efficient improvements also add to the value of your home when reselling: in fact, windows and doors, new insulation, or an improved roof typically recover 65% to 76% of value at resale.
Knowing that home improvements can add value to a home is not enough: the homeowner must also have a reliable, knowledgeable—licensed—contractor to guide them through the home improvement process. Until recently, finding a great local contractor was not always easy. That is, until the creation of ServiceMagic.com.
ServiceMagic is America’s top website connecting consumers with prescreened, customer-review contractors. The company has matched millions of consumers with professionals. Each and every one of ServiceMagic’s pros is selected via a rigorous screening process, including state-level licensing.
So if you’d like to find out how you can beautify your home—while increasing its value at the same time—be sure to visit ServiceMagic.com today.
