08/28/2026
From The National Real Estate Brief...
'Ask a homeowner which renovation would make them happiest and you may hear:
A new kitchen.
A larger primary suite.
A beautiful bathroom.
Ask which project is most likely to recover its cost at resale and the answer may be considerably less glamorous.
A new front door.
That is one of the more useful contradictions in the latest Remodeling Impact Report from the National Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
Homeowners gave three projects a perfect 10 out of 10 Joy Score:
a primary bedroom suite addition,
a kitchen upgrade,
and new roofing.
But the projects with the highest estimated cost recovery looked very different.
A new steel front door led the report at 100% estimated cost recovery.
A closet renovation followed at 83%.
A new fiberglass front door came in at 80%.
A complete kitchen renovation?
About 60%.
None of that means kitchens are bad investments or every seller should replace a front door.
It means homeowners and buyers can value the same improvement in very different ways.
And before a seller spends $10,000, $30,000, or $80,000 preparing a house for market, that distinction matters.'
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