Improving your San Diego property with remodeling and renovations is a great way to increase property value. This can help you at resale, but it also contributes to a better quality of life in your San Diego home. The challenge is knowing what improvements to your square footage will yield the greatest returns. Smart San Diego real estate professionals, the folks who know the local real estate market, turn to Remodeling’s Cost Versus Value report.
Pacific Specifics
The Pacific Coast region, from Washington state down through Baja California, enjoys some prime real estate. Any San Diego property can increase in value with specific, focused projects that not only catch buyers’ eyes, they provide immediate comfort and better living for you before you sell.
A goal of a home improvement project is to recover as much of the cost of the project when you choose to sell your home. The real estate transaction does not have to explicitly spell out what you paid and what you hope to get from, say, adding on a family room. Yet you can pick and choose projects based on their return on investment (ROI).
Top Picks
Remodeling oversees a database of every region and, in some cases, specific cities around the country. The real estate San Diego home sellers turn to can look up which projects really make a property stand out, and recommend remodeling projects to boost curb appeal and move your home.
Remodeling maintains a list from mundane to magnificent, but the greatest ROI for the San Diego region comes in under the category of energy-smart (though distinctly mundane) improvements: attic insulation. Boosting your San Diego property’s attic insulation (or installing it if none is present) can cost you around $1,368 but add $2,413 in resale value, giving you a 176.4 percent ROI. Such a project is considered a “mid-range” job both for its cost and its complexity.
In the same category, changing out the front door to your San Diego home for sale will give you a 122.2 percent return, costing $1,519 on average but boosting resale value by $1,857.
Both these mid-range remodeling projects require a minimal investment. If you have more money to spend on your San Diego dream home, consider remodeling the basement. Remodeling considers this a mid-range project with a price tag of $82,619 but an ROI of 130.9 percent, yielding a dazzling $108,125 in resale value.
Wow Factor
Of the three projects, the front door may add a little curb appeal, the basement will wow prospective San Diego home buyers, but the attic insulation will do little to stir hearts. To really change your home for sale, consider perennial, transformative winners:
- Bathroom remodel — This costs, on average, $65,847 and returns $48,421 in added resale value, an ROI of 73.5 percent
- Garage door replacement — Costing only $3,437 (average) but bumping up resale value by $4,447, this gives an ROI of 129.4 percent
- Deck addition using composite materials (not Redwood) — Coming in at a cost of $44,145 and a resale boost of $41,889, this family-pleasing improvement gives an ROI of 94.9 percent
Hot Stuff
If you have money to burn, or want to pamper your family while you are living in a home you intend to sell a few years from now, consider these over-the-top remodeling improvements that will really set your San Diego property apart.
In the San Diego region, a major kitchen remodeling can make everyone’s life in your home more enjoyable. It may cost, on average, $131,921 but will garner $99,316 at home sale, for an ROI of 75.3 percent.
Modifying a bathroom under universal design principles, for maximum accessibility for people of all abilities, will cost an average of $18,722 in the San Diego area, but will give you a $17,750 boost at resale, for a 94.8 percent ROI.
And for the ultimate indulgence, make life in your San Diego home truly sweet with a master bedroom suite addition. In the San Diego market, this will cost an average of $276,836 while yielding $220,579 in resale value, for a great ROI of 79.7 percent.
Great News
The great news with your San Diego property is, every improvement you make comes back to you in at least one of two ways, if not both:
- Added enjoyment while you live in your home
- Added value at resale
If you are raising a young family, for example, a family room addition literally pays for itself. In the San Diego area, you will spend an average of $106,345 so your children can enjoy your home (and you can enjoy your children). You get back $106,316 at resale, for a (rounded) 100 percent ROI. Strike a balance between a great ROI and a project your whole family will enjoy as you continue to live in your beautiful San Diego property.
