Comments on: Which Home Remodels Pay Off?

By: Marshall Middle

Marshall Middle — Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:37 +0000

Looks like kitchens and bathrooms are a safe bet. We’re planning on doing both in the future. Thanks for the info.

By: JEFF

JEFF — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:10:06 +0000

we are winding up a minor remodel of our master bath….while I was careful not to do anything that may be considered an “overimprovement”, we still spent about 16k. We are confident that we will recoup at least 100%+ of this cost in additional equity(we live in South Palm Beach Cnty, FL)….not only that, but the joy of using the new bathroom you just cant place a $ figure on….getting up every morning to our “builders grade” eyesore was depressing….

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:43:51 +0000

Personal Finance Advice did a nice article on this a while back. The results were focused on several major cities but the returns were far higher than in Arlington. Those seem like awefully low returns, were those for a specified time period? Because it would see to me that the return over time would be much better.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:10:34 +0000

Though encouraging when considering a remodel, I think that these numbers could lead to rationalization about spending more than you should. You only realize those returns if you sell your home or investment property, and in the meantime that money not reducing your debt burden or working for you in investment accounts.

I think the best reason to do a remodel is that it makes your home or investment property more liveable. If you already have a great attic bedroom, you aren’t going to recoup 157% of the cost of remodeling it, whereas if your bathroom hasn’t seen new fixtures since the 70s, a remodel might be worth more than 79% of its cost…