Owning real estate was the difference between the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts (spoiler alert – Cornelius Vanderbilt’s wealth was gone in 50 years). Most American real estate owners think of their house or condo as their home; their place to relax and entertain. Also, real estate accounts for one half of total household wealth in the USA; so our homes are significant to our investment portfolios. For our metro-DC readers, we’ve been fortunate to see the median house sale price rise every year for the last nine years, increasing by 50 percent since April 2013, and seeing its largest hikes during the pandemic. Now, with inflation, a volatile stock market, and increasing mortgage rates, we want to take a look at investing in our homes. It’s a good time to hunker down and renovate. What is the ROI on high end home improvement?

Best Seat in the House

Primary and secondary bathrooms are a natural place to begin any home renovation. The design possibilities are endless and the return on investment is high. Net net, you can enjoy your new bathrooms and sleep well knowing that remodeling them will reap rewards when you sell your home. For an upscale remodel, the average cost is $61,662 and average return is $34,644 for an ROI of 56.2%! Let’s have some fun redesigning your bathrooms to make them into sanctuaries. Here is some inspiration.

Kitchen Range

Next up, your kitchen. If your appliances, cabinetry, and countertops are looking a little dated then it might be time for a facelift or a full renovation. People tend to think a kitchen renovation is too much to handle. We’re here to help!  Perhaps no walls need to be moved and it’s a “pull and replace”. Perhaps we set up a small kitchenette in another room and we get to work. We take care of all of the details.  New kitchens also have a very high ROI. The national average ROI for a major upscale kitchen remodel is almost 54%. That means you recoup about $81,000 after spending around $150,000. Here is some inspiration.

Outside Chance

If you are fortunate enough to have outdoor space where you live, then improving it with gardens, grills, pizza ovens, seating, lighting, or fire pits can yield a very high ROI as this NY Times article suggests. The pandemic certainly led to the exploration of the great outdoors, and the trend continues as landscape architects, pool builders, outdoor furniture companies, and even fire pit manufacturers try to keep up with demand. Here are 60 ideas for your new outdoor room.

Sneak Peek

Our team has been having a very busy furnishings installation week at our #IMLivingOnTheEdgemoor project! See below for some snapshots of us in action. More to come next month!