Home improvement is an important investment in your home that you can enjoy for years to come. While it’s difficult to recoup 100% of the cost on any single improvement, a handful of high-quality upgrades can add a lot of value to your home. In fact, homeowners report greater satisfaction with their homes following a remodel than they did prior to the work.
Whether you’re thinking of improving your kitchen, adding a deck or remodeling the bathroom, it’s important to plan the project with return on investment in mind. Choosing improvements that serve your family’s needs and will appeal to potential buyers is the best way to increase your home’s resale value.
While some projects may seem costly up front, it’s important to remember that the money you invest in a renovation will usually be paid back during the sale of your home. It is also important to consider energy efficiency when planning any major home improvement project.
The coronavirus pandemic has cooled the frenzy that drove many households to upgrade their homes during the lockdown, and Lowe’s and Home Depot reported sales dips this week. But household interest in upgrading is far from dead, with most of the people NerdWallet surveyed planning to take on at least one project over the next two years.
Of those, 42% are considering painting a room and 25% updating light fixtures. But most of the planned improvements aren’t designed with resale in mind. Just 20% of the planned projects are aimed at making the home more appealing to potential buyers. The rest are meant to make the home more comfortable or simply improve livability.
When hiring contractors to perform home improvement work, be sure to compare prices, experience and reputation. Contractors vary greatly in the quality of their work and their ability to finish a job on time or at all. It’s also worth considering a company that’s part of a trade association or has been vetted by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC).
If you need help financing your home improvement project, there are a variety of options available. Homeowners can use a credit card, secured loan or unsecured personal loan to pay for home improvements. However, the best option may be to use a home equity line of credit (HELOC), which uses the homeowner’s mortgage as collateral and offers lower interest rates than other loans.
A HELOC is a great tool to help with home improvement projects, but it’s important to understand how much you can borrow and the terms of repayment before taking on this type of debt. Homeowners should also be careful to avoid “gray market” contractors who may not have been properly licensed and insured. The MHIC requires all contract documents to be in writing and signed by both the homeowner and contractor before any work begins and payments are made. A reputable contractor will have his or her name, address and MHIC license number preprinted on the document.