When looking to remodel your home you have to be clear about your objectives. Are you doing it for personal reasons? Or to add value to your home? Many home improvements don’t pay for themselves in terms of adding value to your home, while others are no-brainers if you can make the improvements. How do you find out which improvements are appropriate?

If you are making the improvement to add value there are definitely some resources that I can help point out. The National Association of Realtors posted an article that explicitly listed the pay-off for various home improvements. However, they don’t publish that information on the web, so if you would like to have specific improvements (like how much value can I add with a new fireplace?), then email me. I have a number of resources. If you are looking for general information, the Seattle Times posts articles occasionally that give overview statistics.

This article mentioned that the “Best Investment Bets” were:

• Kitchen: Replace countertops with a quality, low-maintenance material, such as granite.
• Bathrooms: Replace vinyl with tile or slate. Use dark grout that won’t show dirt.
• Family room: If you don’t have a fireplace in the room, add one. If your hearth is half-baked, make it better.
• Master bedroom: Add an organizational system to the closet, especially if you don’t have a walk-in.
• Basement: Adding a bathroom — or rough-ins for a toilet, sink and shower — is the place to start.

Why do many home-improvement investments not pay for themselves? Mainly it has to do with people’s expectations. If you are adding or fixing something that people expect to be there, then it won’t add much value to your home. For example, people expect that the plumbing system works. If you have to pay $5,000 to fix the plumbing, you just aren’t likely to recoup that money through a higher home price. Same thing with a new roof.