Home Improvements You Can Make With Your Tax Return
February 13, 2018
About this time of year, many of us are starting to think about where to place our tax return refund – enter home improvements. One of the things that we’ll never ask our clients to do at CaneStar Homes is to make improvements on your home before selling it. We pay cash for homes as is – saving our clients the expense of making costly improvements.
None-the-less, if you’re reading this article, you are looking for some ideas about what improvements that can be made on your home that will garner the biggest bang for your buck with your tax return. Megan Wild has written a great article. Below are some considerations. You can see the link to the rest of her article at the end of my blog post. Thank-you!
It’s sometimes tough financially to make home improvements. Many home improvements cost around four digits, and some cost even more. Unless you’ve been saving for a project, you’re unlikely to have that kind of cash lying around.
Enter your tax return. If you’re receiving a sizable chunk of change, it acts almost as an automatic savings account. Suddenly, you have money you didn’t have before.
Whether your tax return equals $500 or $5,000, you can use it to cross some home refurbishments off your list that improve your home’s livability and appeal. Some improvements even enhance your home’s energy efficiency, which lowers your cost going forward.
Here are seven home improvements that either make your home more fun, enhance its appearance or improve its energy profile:
1. Remodel the Kitchen
Full-scale kitchen remodels—replacing and redoing everything in the kitchen—can cost more than the average tax return. Instead, you can remodel effectively by picking certain elements of the kitchen you want changed.
Look around and see what you most want to redo. Are the cabinets old and dated? Upgrade to new wooden cabinets with sturdy handles and pulls; you have a variety of stains to choose from. Are your appliances 20 years old and counting? You’d be wise to replace them. Stoves, refrigerators and dishwashers should be traded in after two decades of use. Countertops still Formica or tile? Gleaming marble might be in your future.
2. Refurbish the Bathroom
Bathrooms tend to look dated if they haven’t been upgraded in a while. Like your kitchen, you can make your bathroom look wonderful for a relatively small sum of cash. Upgrade the fixtures with gleaming brass or pewter. Re-tile the floor in a modern pattern.