Smart Buying

Remodeling That Makes Sense

The price of materials is rising, so pick your project carefully.

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, November 2005

Floors. Updated flooring, all things being equal, increases a home's value by 5% to 11%, according to a study by G. Stacy Sirmans, a professor of real estate at Florida State University. In her Southern California market, Anderson says buyers want to see some type of stone -- usually travertine (a variety of marble) or limestone. Those materials cost about $3 to $11 per square foot, uninstalled. Wood floors also register with buyers, she says. "Not fake wood floors but real wood floors." Laminate floors, such as Pergo, sound hollow underfoot and turn off many buyers. Real wood costs about $6 to $10 per square foot, uninstalled; Pergo costs less than $4 per square foot and is easy to install. Don't even think about vinyl. "Vinyl floors are a turn-off, even in the lower price ranges," says Greta McKenna, a Re/Max agent in Flossmoor, Ill.

Mud rooms. The humble mud room, once a way station between the outdoors and the kitchen, has become a hot item for remodelers and buyers in many parts of the U.S. These utility areas have grown into tony rooms with built-in wooden cabinets (which everyone calls lockers) for stowing items for each family member, whether a briefcase, backpack or diaper bag. There should be shelves or tables near outlets where digital cameras, iPods and Game Boys can be charged. Some even have dog showers (often just a drain pan on the floor with a hand-held shower head).

Costs for a well-equipped mud room can be minimal if you outfit an existing space with new cabinets and countertops from a discount store, such as Ikea. Or a mud room can be as elaborate and expensive as a smaller version of your kitchen.

The increase in home value, however, may be slight -- perhaps only 1%, according to Sirmans's study. But Sirmans's research may not reflect the recent trend toward the mud room as a family command center.

Patio. Cotton, the broker on Cape Cod, is also a home-restoration enthusiast. He claims the remodeling job that yields the biggest boost in value with the smallest investment is adding a deck or patio to an older home. (Expect an 87% return on investment, according to Remodeling magazine.) If you can turn an existing window into a French door that opens onto a deck or patio, you get a two-fer: You'll not only create access to a new, outdoor living space, but you'll also allow more light into the room. "You make the room feel bigger," Cotton says. And although the investment is greater, he believes the space grows even more valuable if you turn a patio into a sunroom with glass and screens on three sides.

Cotton also likes to focus on the view from the street, where many would-be buyers make their first, brutal assessment of a home. In particular, a new front door with raised panels and slim windows along the sides "really makes the front of your house pop," he says. (Figure about $1,000, plus installation.) Improvements to the landscaping and front walkway could add more value than their relatively modest cost -- if the rest of the house is in decent shape.

The overall lesson for homeowners: To get the most resale bang for your remodeling buck, chat with some real estate agents to see what's currently in favor with buyers. Be skeptical, though, about the opinions of designers and decorators, whose cutting-edge ideas may not appeal to the broadest range of buyers.

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