People often refer to home remodeling as one of the best investments you can make. It’s a great way to update your New Jersey home and keep up with growing trends or a growing family. The best part is, you usually get most of it back when you sell your home. The kitchen and the bathroom were always the shining example of this. But in 2010-2011 the trend for remodeling projects with the highest Return On Investment (ROI) have shifted from larger home remodels, to smaller home improvement projects. These projects include new exterior paint, window and door replacement, or garage replacements.

A high ROI an New Jersey homeowner could expect on a kitchen remodel used to be 75-85%. However, according to this year’s Cost vs. Value report that assess home remodeling projects from various regions all around the country, the ROI for a typical kitchen remodel has dropped to 57% for 2011. This is as much as a 30% decrease over the last 5 years. The drop does seem to be bottoming out, which is a sign that the housing market may be as well. But with such a significant drop, it can be easy to understand why your New Jersey home remodeling contractor may be experiencing a decrease in kitchen remodels.

Conversely, contractors may be experiencing more work in the home improvement spectrum. Replacement projects typically outperform remodeling projects  due to their relatively low cost (a replacement project is any remodeling project completed under $18,000). One of the best replacement projects an New Jersey homeowner can do for their home is a window and door replacement. According to the Cost vs. Value report, a window and door replacement can return over 70% of the cost, 13% higher than kitchen remodel’s ROI. New windows and doors are considered a valuable replacement project because there have been numerous advancement in window and door technology, specifically advancements in energy efficiency. This is especially appealing to homeowners because more efficient windows and doors can lower utility bills, which is a huge plus in this market. It might seem obvious that the value of saving money has wide appeal, but it wasn’t too long ago that double ovens and Hummers were in fashion.

Home remodeling and the housing market have slowed down, but there are optimistic signs that things are getting better. According the “Housing 360″ report by Hanley Wood, about 42% of homeowners feel that it’s a good time to remodel their homes. For homeowner’s with a higher income of $100,000 or more, the statistic increases to 56%. The lack of credit still makes it hard for New Jersey homeowners to buy new homes or renovate their existing homes. But recently, people have been watching their money closely and been able to provide the money for their home remodeling projects with cash. In fact, 80% of homeowners use cash for remodeling their home.

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