atHome Colorado Features
Improvements to a home’s exterior lead the top projects for payback, with several returning more than 100% of the investment to home sellers in the Remodeling 2024 Cost vs. Value Report (costvsvalue.com) published by data solutions provider Zonda. This continues a multiyear trend for exterior projects, providing the greatest return on investment (ROI) when the home is sold.
Nationally, nine out of 10 of this year’s top projects focus on exterior enhancements – consistent with the high value placed on a home’s curb appeal when establishing a home’s selling price.
In the Mountain region, including Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, the No. 1 return is gained from replacing an entry door with steel with 185% ROI, followed by a garage door replacement with 174% ROI. Manufactured stone veneer, a fiberglass grand entrance and a minor kitchen remodel round out the top five with ROIs of 124%, 100% and 94%, respectively.
The report highlights a surge in the average values of the top two projects – replacements for garage doors and steel entry doors – nearly doubling their resale value over last year to almost 200% nationwide. Manufactured stone veneer returned an average of more than 150% ROI, making these “hot returns” the highest in the history of the Cost vs. Value Report.
Zonda attributes the high ROI to the advantage move-up buyers have in today’s competitive national real estate market. Zonda considers move-up buyers to be possibly more discerning than first-time buyers, noting the improvements can significantly differentiate a home, potentially justifying a higher selling price.
Last year’s leading project nationwide and in the mountain states – HVAC conversions or replacing fossil-fuel-burning heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems with electric heat pumps – fell to No. 10 in the mountain states, with a 63.7% ROI. Zonda says lower natural gas and higher electricity prices in 2023 likely drive the decline.
Here are the remodeling projects that topped Colorado and mountain states for the leading ROI in the Remodeling 2024 Cost vs. Value Report:
New entry door
The highest ROI on remodeling in the mountain states is replacing a standard entry door with a new 20-gauge steel door with a clear dual-pane half-glass panel. The return is 185% on a $2,275 investment or a resale value of $4,213.
Garage door replacement
This is the second most valuable update you can make to your Colorado home, according to the 2024 Cost vs Value Report. A stylish new garage door makes your home pop with curb appeal. This $4,666 investment returns an estimated $8,138, or 174%. The project analyzed is to remove and replace a 16×7-foot garage door and its tracks with a new four-section garage door made with high-tensile-strength steel with two coats of factory-applied paint. Windows in the top panel are ½-inch insulated glass. The project doesn’t include a new motorized opener.
Manufactured stone veneer
A natural choice for Colorado homes, this popular siding update delivers $13,705 on an $11,025 investment or 124%. The estimated cost is to remove a 300-square-foot band of vinyl siding and replace it with adhered manufactured stone veneer on the bottom third of the street-facing façade. The replacement includes 36 linear feet of sills, 40 linear feet of corners and an outlined entry archway.
Fiberglass Grand Entrance
A fiberglass grand entrance includes the removal of a basic entry door and replacing it with a wider fiberglass door flanked by decorative half-glass sidelights on either side. This update creates a more inviting and upscale entryway for the home. The return is slightly more than 100% of the money spent on the job. The project costs $10,807 and returns an estimated $10,848.
Minor kitchen remodel
A simple kitchen refresh on a functional 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of cabinetry and countertops returns 94% of the project cost for a midrange home. The project analyzed putting new shaker-style wood panels and new hardware on cabinet and drawer fronts, replacing the cooktop, oven range, and refrigerator, and adding new laminate countertops and resilient flooring. The project cost is $26,586 and returns $25,077.
Resale value data for each project was aggregated from estimates provided by an online survey conducted by Zonda to over 6,000 Realtors working in cooperation with the Realtors Property Resource of the National Association of Realtors.
Complete Remodeling 2024 Cost vs. Value Report data can be downloaded free at costvsvalue.com. Read the full article at: www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2024.
Tom Kalinski is the broker/owner of RE/MAX of Boulder, the local residential real estate company he established in 1977. He was inducted into Boulder County’s Business Hall of Fame in 2016 and has a 40-year background in commercial and residential real estate. For questions, e-mail Tom
at tomkalinski33@gmail.com, call 303.441.5620 or visit boulderco.com.
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