Which Home Remodels Add the Most Resale Value in NJ?

Sooner or later, there's a pretty good chance you're going to want to sell your home. Maybe you've lived in it for 30 years, and it's time for a change. Maybe a career change or change in life circumstances necessitates a move. Maybe you're buying, improving, and flipping homes. Whatever the case, one thing is going to sit at the forefront of your mind: the sale price.

One of the biggest choices you face when you're preparing to sell is how much work you put into the house before listing it. Some renovations and remodels are worth the time and money, increasing the sale price, sale speed, and even interest in the home on the marketplace. Others take too long or cost too much to be worth it before you sell.

If you're looking to maximize the sale value of your home, what remodeling projects should you consider? Let's take a look at what New Jersey homebuyers are looking for.

The Variance of ROI

Before we get into the specific remodels we think are a good idea, it's worth talking a little about ROI.

ROI is the Return on Investment. It's the amount of value you can expect to be added to the sale price of your home once your remodel is completed. If you spend $10,000 on a remodel and the sale price of your home goes up by $5,000, that's a 50% ROI. If it goes up by $10,000, that's a 100% ROI.

As you can imagine, none of this is easy to measure. The sale price is at least partially dependent on market forces beyond any of our control. It varies based on buyer interest, competition, desirability, and more. 

At the same time, different buyers value different things about a house. Putting on a new roof might be very important to one potential buyer, but might not be quite as high-priority for another. Some might prize the new lighting and updated cabinetry you install in the kitchen, while others might want to pull out half the work you did and change it to suit their needs. 

On top of all of this, the cost of the remodel can vary, too. The contractors you hire, the materials you buy, the timeline of the project; the same remodel might cost thousands of dollars more or less depending on just these factors.

All of this is to say, while we're ranking remodeling projects based on what we know of the New Jersey market, the general trends among homebuyers, and our experience as a remodeling contractor, take all of this with a grain of salt. The exact reality of the situation will vary based on your specific home and situation.

If you want an estimate and a discussion of your remodeling project ideas, feel free to reach out to our team of experts. We've been handling all kinds of remodels throughout North and Central NJ for over 30 years, and we'll do everything we can to help you plan your project.

The Major Categories of Home Remodels

Remodels can fall into three main categories.

The first is remodels that have a significant, over 100% ROI. That means for every dollar you spend on the remodel, you get over a dollar in increased sale price. While this might not sound feasible, it's actually surprisingly common, and there are a handful of great remodeling ideas you can implement to capture this benefit.

The second category is the smaller ROI projects. These can range anywhere from a meager 50% ROI to 90% ROI on average. These can still be worth doing for non-monetary reasons; for example, they might increase interest in your home, so you sell faster. Or, they might not be generally sought-after, but could be much more valuable to the right buyer.

The third category is the negative ROI projects. These have a sub-50% ROI, and in some cases might be outright negative. Obviously, you generally don't want to do these projects, but sometimes they're necessary; major structural repairs can jeopardize the chances of selling at all, so even if you lose money on the project, you still need to do it.

All of this is blurry, by the way. You can't always nicely categorize various remodeling projects into one of these buckets. Still, it's worth keeping in mind that sometimes a project needs to get done, even if it costs you to do so, and that there can be benefits to a remodel that go beyond the simple value of the home.

Home Remodels with Incredible ROI

For obvious reasons, we're going to spend the bulk of this post talking about the most positive-ROI remodels you can do. Keep in mind that these may or may not be actually the most valuable for your specific home, so if you have questions, give us a call or talk to your real estate agent about your local market.

Here are some of the historically most valuable, in sheer ROI, home remodels you can do.

Update Your Garage Door

Garage doors are often overlooked as a functional but mostly invisible part of the home. But they can also be a source of frustration. A loud, creaky, poorly-hung garage door can be a nuisance both to you and your family, and to your neighbors. An old or outdated garage door motor can be on the cusp of burning out and needing replacement anyway, and the door springs aren't just due for replacement; they're even a potential hazard in waiting. 

Newer garage doors can also come equipped with safety features. They can come integrated with security systems, leverage electronic sensors to detect intrusion, and use hazard detection to help prevent injuries and entrapment. 

On top of all of that, the garage door is often a key piece of curb appeal. After all, it's one big, visible surface of your home. You don't want it to look old and beat up, do you?

This only works if you have a garage, and it works best if your garage door faces the street. For those with detached garages tucked away behind the home, the curb appeal isn't as big a factor.

Replacing Your Entry Door

The front door to your home is both a piece of curb appeal and a signal of security. A broad glass door can look very pretty, but it lacks security. A modern steel door can still look very good, while showcasing the security of a firm entryway. Modern doors (and improvements to the doorframe) can also be a boost to your home's energy efficiency, which is another selling point.

The downside to this remodel is that it's not all that big in terms of raw value. Even the most high-tech, high-budget doors pale in comparison to most of the other remodels on this list, so while it has a great ROI, it's still only a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars at most.

Refurbishing Hardwood Floors

If your NJ home has hardwood, refinishing that hardwood can be a surprisingly valuable project. On average, it often has close to a 150% ROI. Most of the time, a floor refinishing just requires some thorough sanding, a new coat or two of stain, and a sealant put over the top to keep it protected. Some of the more worn-down floors might need knotholes patched, boards replaced, or other repairs, but it's still a relatively minor project.

Whether or not this is truly valuable can depend on the outlook of your prospective buyers. Hardwood is in style right now, with many homebuyers considering it the "gold standard" for flooring material, but there are some buyers who might prefer other flooring. 

Other floor remodeling projects can include installing tile, vinyl plank flooring, or even new carpet in certain rooms. For example, tile tends to work best in kitchens where it can withstand spills and stains, while carpet can be better for bedrooms where the softer surface and noise dampening make the room more pleasant. 

Custom Cabinetry in Kitchens and Bathrooms

While a full kitchen or bathroom remodel is likely going to be more expensive and time-consuming, for a slightly lower ROI, you can do some strategic improvements without full to-the-bones renovations that keep the ROI high while refreshing the look and functionality of the space.

On the low end, you can replace some of the lighting, paint cabinets, and replace basic fixtures like faucets and showerheads. These are generally inexpensive but add an outsized amount of value by making the rooms look and feel much newer. 

For the sweet spot, one of our most-requested updates is custom cabinetry. Off-the-shelf cabinets aren't always ideal for the decidedly not stock designs of older New Jersey homes, so they can feel awkward and ill-sized for the space, while lacking the right kind of functionality you want from the room. Custom cabinetry solves all of these problems, smoothing out the rough edges, boosting functionality, and making the space that much better to live in.

New Siding and Windows

Siding plays a huge role in the value of your home. Most people tend to think of it in terms of appearance, and sure, that's one facet. New siding looks a whole lot better than old, faded, cracked, mildewed siding. You can also update the style of your siding to better fit the look of your neighborhood and the design of your home.

Siding does more than just look good, though. It's a layer of protection between your home and the elements. It keeps the rain from working into the space in the walls, stops wind-blown debris from damaging the home, and more.

It can also play a role in energy efficiency. Certain kinds of siding have thermal insulating properties and can help keep your home warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and your energy bills low all throughout.

Windows are similar. Older windows might have that vintage look, but all too often that means moisture trapped between panes, clouded glass, and grime that never seems to come off. New windows look great, and they're almost guaranteed to be better in terms of UV, temperature, and even noise protection.

Energy efficiency, curb appeal, and protection? Who wouldn't love that?

Remodels to Avoid

When sale value is your biggest concern, there are some remodels you want to make sure to avoid.

These have low, near-zero, or even negative ROI, or can hurt the chances of selling your home at all:

• Stripping personality. Most buyers today are tired of the neutral "everything is gray" design that saturated the market a decade ago. Don't be afraid to leave some color and personality in your home.
• Adding too much personality. Anything hyper-custom narrows your potential audience, since for most people it's either too weird, too nonsensical, or just something they'd want to change anyway. You might love a fancy mural in your living room or a tile mosaic on the ceiling, but how many others shopping for homes can say the same?
• Adding a maintenance burden. Remodels like adding a pool, replacing counters or floors with marble, or creating elaborate high-maintenance landscaping don't signal value. They signal work and ongoing expenses.
• Removing bedrooms. The value of a home heavily depends on the number of bedrooms, so if you're sacrificing a bedroom for a media room, home office, or walk-in closet, you're probably hindering your sale price by quite a lot.

If you have ideas and you want an expert's opinion on whether or not they're worth doing before you sell your home, you've come to the right place. With over 30 years of experience in New Jersey home remodeling, our team at Magnolia is uniquely positioned to give you insight not just into current trends, but historical values and future predictions as well. Plus, we're more than ready to get your projects rolling, from planning through to the finishing touches. All you need to do to get New Jersey's best on your side is drop us a line.