Tehama Country Real Estate

$ lions of dollars improving their homes. While those improvements are intended to improve the home for all its residents, such improvements are also intended to increase a home's value. Projects that contribute the most to a home's resale value are the most attrac- tive. This year's "Cost vs. Value Report" from Remodeling magazine examines the relationship between remodeling costs and resale value. The following projects were some of the best for home- owners looking to improve their home and the home's resale value at the same time. E * Entry door replacement (steel): Removing an existing entry door and replacing with a new 20-gauge steel door proved to be a homeowner's best friend, recouping 128.9 percent of its cost at resale. Among midrange projects, this one recouped the most money by a land- slide. * Attic bedroom: Converting an unfin- ished attic space to a 15-by-15-foot bed- room and a 5-by-7-foot bathroom with a shower also proved worthwhile to homeowners. Such a project recouped 83.1 percent of its $49,000 price tag at resale. Tehama Country Real Estate – 3 GETTING BACK YOUR BUCKS Improvemens That Yield Good Returns Home ach year, homeowners spend bil- * Minor kitchen remodel: For home- owners looking for smaller-scale pro- jects, a minor kitchen remodel, which includes installing new raised-panel wood doors on cabinets and drawers as well as replacing older appliances with more energy-efficient models, boasts a smaller price tag and a solid return. The project, which costs roughly $21,000, recouped 78.3 percent of that cost at resale. * Backup power generator: Perhaps in light of the headline-gripping natural disasters and storms of the last decade, adding a backup power generator also proved a worthwhile investment. The project involves adding a backup system with the capacity to provide 70 amps of emergency power. That project recouped nearly 59 percent of its initial cost at resale, making it one of the few projects that saw its cost recouped figure increase from 2008-09. * Siding replacement (fiber-cement): Among projects categorized as upscale, no project fared better than siding replacement (fiber-cement) when com- paring recouped values. Replacing exist- ing siding with fiber-cement siding that's factory primed and factory painted recouped almost 84 percent of its initial cost at resale. * Window replacement (vinyl): Replacing 10 existing 3-by-5-foot dou- ble-hung windows with insulated, low- E, simulated-divided-lite vinyl win- dows is also a good bet for homeown- ers looking to improve their home and its resale value. Also considered an upscale project in spite of its relatively low price tag (roughly $14,000), this project recouped an average of 79 per- cent of its initial cost at resale. For more information on the 2009-10 "Cost vs. Value Report," visit the Remodeling magazine Web site at www.remodeling.hw.net.

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