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Why would anyone spend thousands of dollars on a remodel when their house is in good condition? Everyone has their reasons, but the most common answer is all about the return on investment (ROI).
We’ve seen many remodels come from retired empty-nesters looking for a change in aesthetics that matches the change of no kids in the house. The other most common reason for a remodel is those selling their homes and wanting to get a great ROI.
There are countless ideas that our contractors have to increase ROI, but I want to list my top 5 ideas for the highest ROI within this blog.
Before you even hire a professional to do an assessment, you should start on your own research to get a more complete idea of what you’re looking for. Even as professional contractors, we like to use the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association (NKBA) and Home Advisor for market conditions research.
Home Advisor analyzes the costs reported by home owners and contractors across the nation to calculate the average for each remodel. Although we wouldn’t trust Home Advisor as much with contracting, their reporting is very good and accurate, compared to what we see from our contractors.
Once you consult a contractor you should get an estimate and expected time frames for completion (Monumental always gives precise and accurate costs and timelines). This will allow you to conduct a ROI audit by yourself to compare the contractor’s estimate with your own.
There is a good reason that both NKBA and Home Advisor recommend spending the largest portion of your budget on new kitchen cabinets.Top of the line kitchen cabinets can cost as much as $10,000 for a 70-100 sq foot kitchen.
The average cost of new cabinets is right around $6,200. When I first saw these numbers, I thought to myself, why would anyone want to spend that much money on a place to hold your food and dishes?
What I didn’t realize is that the ROI on kitchen cabinets can be as high as 80-100%! This means that if you spend $10,000 on incredible seamless Shaker cabinets with custom handles, joints, and color, you can recoup around $8,000 if you sell your home.
We recommend putting aside at least 25% of your kitchen remodel budget for cabinets because it has the highest ROI and makes a huge impact on the aesthetics of your kitchen.
My ideal cabinets would be frameless Oak or Cherry Shaker cabinets with a dark finish and topped off with stainless steel handles and soft-close hinges. It might not sound like this would be an expensive remodel choice, but the cabinets I’m thinking of will cost at least $10,000-$12,000 for a 100 sq foot kitchen (after installation).
I Think the benefit of frameless cabinets over framed is the extra amount of usable space. The simplicity, elegance, and natural beauty of the wood is allowed to shine. On average, frameless cabinets will cost an extra 15-20%, but worth it if you got the funds.
I don’t think it’s any secret that when it comes to countertops and flooring, granite and quartz are king. We have the contractors and craftsmen/women to provide the best quartz countertops in the D.C. area.
We also have some great alternatives to quartz and granite that give you the aesthetics but at a much lower price. If you’re wanting to improve your home in beauty and ROI, quartz and granite can return as much as 80% net gain.
The average countertop in America is 24”x 140” with a cost between $2,000-$5,000 ($40-$100 SQ FT) depending on the grade and design of the stone. The Blue Bahia Level 5 granite is the highest priced countertop we’ve seen, but once you take a look at it, you’ll see why.
I couldn’t imagine being able to afford a countertop that could cost me $30,000, but if you can, this is a special stone. Granite is going to normally be a little less expensive than quartz, but it depends more on the grade of the stone than the type of stone. For example, a Level 1 quartz will be cheaper than a Level 2 granite stone slab.
In short, if you spent $5,000-$,7,500 on a new countertop, you’d recoup at least $3,000, $5,000 of the upfront cost with the sale of your home. The problem with laminate is that no one is going to pay top dollar for your home with laminate installed.
Natural stone is more of an upfront cost, but our contractors have the best available granite and quartz to offer. Most homeowners are able to sell their homes at much larger prices with granite countertops.
A kitchen island can be slightly higher in some markets for ROI, but since this is my opinion, I think new lighting makes a bigger difference. Light fixtures are often overlooked as part of a remodel, but the difference that adjustable recessed lighting made in my kitchen is undeniable.
I never really thought that having a multi-layered lighting system in my kitchen would be that important, but it’s made a tremendous difference in the way our kitchen is used and viewed.
The different layers of lighting, such as recessed, pendants, and track lighting allow me to adjust to the mood of the home. For example, I can dim my recessed lighting to transition to night time or turn my pendant light above the stove and my track lighting throughout the ceiling of my kitchen.
The good news is that you can receive a ROI of around 65% and spend only around $2,200 for a life-changing new feel to your kitchen. Hiring us to do the work will ensure that you get a fair, honest, and concrete quote for the work.
A kitchen island may add more function to your kitchen, but it will also take up space that most of us in NOVA or D.C. don’t have to lose. An island will also cost you much more money upfront and only return about 10-15% more on value than new lighting.
I think it’s instrumental to every kitchen to start with recessed lighting in the ceiling. Depending on the original setup, our contractors put in recessed lighting for a very affordable price.
Adding a pendant light above every area in the kitchen where you cook is an awesome feature to have. A pendant light allows you to direct the light toward your stove, sink, cutting board, and countertops.
If you have an island, the feeling of a pot-rack chandelier handing over the island is awesome. I cook most of my meals from home and having my pots and pans readily available would be a convenient and elegant option.
We are a family-owned and operated company that got its start in the D.C. Metro area. We’ve been establishing connections in our region for the last 20 years as contractors. As a family-run business, we want to treat you like one of our own because we know you could take your business to a large corporation. We offer a complete and extensive consultation on a job that includes a virtual model of what your remodel will look once it’s done.
If you’re a visual learner, our designers can show you exactly what we could do for you. Finally, we always offer a fair price to our customers and stand by our quotes to ensure we never put our customers in a financial bind.
Give us a call at 703-539-6164 or contact us through email and we’d love to show you why Monumental Contractors is worth your time.
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