Recouping the Cost of Home Improvements

Often, sellers are often surprised that a new roof or new carpet doesn’t increase the value of their home by the amount they spent on it.  I usually remind them that their home had a roof on it before they replaced it, and amazingly enough, buyers expect a house to have a roof on it when they buy it.  Same thing with new carpet, paint and etc.  Now that is not to say that a new roof won’t increase the sell-ability of their home, or that they can’t recoup some of the cost of replacement. 

Given two equivalent homes, one with a new roof and one with one needing replacement, which one would YOU buy?  For many buyers, the replacement of a roof is an unknown quantity in the home buying equation.  After all, even with an estimate, the replacement could end up costing much more when the actual work is done:  materials costs increases, discovery of rotted decking and other such factors can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars.  I usually recommend to sellers that they do improvements like roofs before putting their home on the market if they can afford it.  But how much can you expect to recoup?

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