Monday, November 17, 2008

Energy Efficient Renovations and Your Return on Investment, Part II

Following Friday's post, here are some important tips to keep in mind when thinking about making any home improvements to your home. These tips are according to the AIC.

* Renovations that add features to a home that other homes in the neighbourhood already have, such as a second bathroom, have a higher recovery rate than features not shared by neighbouring properties.

* Renovations done on a home with a lower market value than the others in the neighbourhood provide a higher recovery rate than renovations done on a home which is worth more than neighbouring properties.

* Poorly done renovations may have no positive effect. In fact, they may actually reduce the value of the home.

* Ensuring that a house is in good repair and well maintained is essential. However, renovations done on a home which has maintenance problems will have much less of a bearing on its resale price.

Here is what homeowners can expect to get back at resale for the most common home improvements, according to the AIC:


Home Upgrade ROI (%)
Kitchen upgrade 75 - 100
Bathroom upgrade 75 - 100
Interior painting 50 - 100
Roof replacement 50 - 80
Replacement of furnace/heat system 50 - 80
Expansion (addition of family room) 50 - 75
Doors and windows 50 - 75
Adding a deck 50 - 75
Install hardwood floor 50 - 75
Adding a garage 50 - 75


A calculator is offered on the Resource Centre page of AIC's RENOVA website (www.aicanada.ca) and it can help you get a better idea of the ROI you can expect for a variety of home improvement projects. The site shows a payback range in dollars and as a percentage of what you plan to pay for the upgrade. Homeowners can choose from among the 20 most popular home improvements.


For more information, give me a call and I'd be happy to help you out (613-725-1171).

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