• By admin
• In Exteriors, Siding, Uncategorized, Windows

Exterior Home Improvement Projects Offer Highest ROI

If you have plans to sell your home this year or you just want to tackle some home improvement projects, you may want to consider the exterior of your home first.

According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), they rated exterior projects among the most valuable home improvement projects in the 2014 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report.

“With many factors to consider such as cost and time, deciding what remodeling projects to undertake can be a difficult decision for homeowners,” says Steve Brown, president of the NAR, in a statement. “Realtors know what home features are important to buyers in their area, but a home’s curb appeal is always critical since it’s the first impression for potential buyers. That’s why exterior replacement projects offer the greatest bang for the buck. Projects such as entry door, siding and window replacements can recoup homeowners more than 78 percent of costs upon resale.”

Eight of the top 10 most cost-effective projects nationally, in terms of value recouped, are exterior projects. Realtors® judged a steel entry door replacement as the project expected to return the most money, with an estimated 96.6 percent of costs recouped upon resale. The steel entry door replacement is consistently the least expensive project in the annual Cost vs. Value Report, costing little more than $1,100 on average.

The project offering the second highest rate of return is the addition of a wood deck.  The project offers an estimated 87.4% return on the costs, upon resale.

Siding replacement projects also landed in the top 10, including fiber-cement siding, expected to return 87 percent of costs.  Fiber-cement offers longevity and resistance to moisture, rot, termites, and fire.  It’s stable and doesn’t flex, so repainting is less frequent, saving money over time.  Out of the top 10 projects, the fiber-cement siding replacement project improved the most since last year, with costs recouped increasing by more than 15 percent.

Vinyl siding continues to be the most popular choice for siding replacement as it is known for being light weigh, low maintenance, and relatively inexpensive.  Vinyl siding projects are expected to return 78.2 percent of costs.

Also making the top 10 improvement projects are garage door replacements, with a return of 83.7% on investment, and replacement windows, with an estimated return of about 79.3% for wood windows and return of about 78.7% for vinyl windows.

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