What to renovate first: Bathroom, kitchen or the basement?

You love your home. But it could certainly do with some additions in space, design and aesthetics to make it more comfortable and functional. Welcome to the club. Many homeowners are in the same demographic.

But most people are confused about where to start. Should the kitchen be renovated first? Or would it be a better idea to do the basement before the kitchen since it can add valuable square footage to the home? Wait, shouldn’t the bathroom be remodeled first considering that it is used every day?

Ideally, you’d want to redo everything and get the dream home you’d always dreamt of. In a real world scenario, it rarely works that way. You are either limited for time or budget or both. And you have to break it down into phases. How do you prioritize your renovation?

Here’s our nifty little guide to help you better understand which investments give you better bang for your buck.

 COMFORT VS. ROI

You’d always dream of relaxing in a Jacuzzi after a tiring day at work. But in the farthest corner of your mind, you should have a thought about recouping some of the investment if you were to sell the house.

How likely is the Jacuzzi to add value to your home? Will the solid-stone countertop influence the potential buyer’s decision? Or is it money splurged that could have been put to better use?

According to the recent cost vs. value report by the remodeling magazine, the bathroom and the kitchen continue to be the sure-fire investment choices when remodeling for ROI. Not to forget the fact though that it depends on a lot of other factors too, like the value of houses in your neighborhood, the quality of the remodel and the value of your house.

KITCHEN RENOVATION

The Kitchen should ideally be number one on your list of remodels due to obvious reasons. If done well, they can return up to 70% of their costs when you decide to sell the house. However, that number is a national average. In some areas, kitchen remodels have recouped much more. Kitchen remodels are more expensive than bathrooms or basements. So, if you have a fixed budget for remodeling all the rooms, you can consider allocating at least 40% of it towards renovating your kitchen.

BATHROOM REMODELING

Along with the kitchen, the bathroom is the most frequently used room in the house. It pays to design it well. If you have an outdated bathroom with a moldy seafoam bathtub and a Formica countertop, it could be a dampener for a potential buyer. Bathroom remodels second Kitchens in costs. But it recoups almost 67% of the cost. Some markets also warrant triple digit returns on bathroom remodel costs.

BASEMENT FINISH

A basement is one of the most cost effective ways to add valuable living space to your home. And it has been trending upwards in terms of cost vs. value. But if you have to redo all three, the kitchen, the bathroom and the basement, it makes more economic sense to renovate the basement last because it may also be the most expensive of the three.