Most remodels add value but return less than they cost. In NAR's 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, a complete kitchen renovation recovers about 60% of its cost at resale, a bathroom renovation 50% and a basement converted to living area 71%. Small exterior jobs, like a new entry or garage door, recover the most. Remodel for your own use first.
What remodels return at resale: the national numbers
Two national surveys try to answer which remodel pays the most. The National Association of Realtors' 2025 Remodeling Impact Report asks remodelers what a project costs and asks Realtors how much it would add at sale. Zonda's 2025 Cost vs. Value report, released in September 2025, pairs cost data from Verisk's XactRemodel estimating software with surveys of real estate professionals, and publishes national averages for 28 remodeling projects along with figures for 115 local markets. Both give the result as the share of the cost you get back.
| Project | NAR 2025 Remodeling Impact | Zonda 2025 Cost vs. Value (national average) |
|---|---|---|
| Garage door replacement | — | 267.7% |
| Steel entry door replacement | 100% | 216.4% |
| Fiber-cement siding | — | 113.7% |
| Minor kitchen remodel or upgrade | 60% | 112.9% |
| Wood deck addition | — | 94.9% |
| Composite deck addition | — | 88.5% |
| New vinyl windows | 74% | — |
| Basement converted to living area | 71% | — |
| Complete kitchen renovation | 60% | — |
| New bathroom added | 56% | — |
| New primary suite | 54% | — |
| Bathroom renovation | 50% | — |
Read these as national opinion surveys, not appraisals and not a Duluth study. What your remodel returns depends on your house, what the rest of the street looks like and who is buying when you sell. The pattern is still useful: the jobs a buyer sees from the curb and doesn't want to redo come back best, and big interior remodels that reflect one owner's taste come back least.
Why the two reports disagree on kitchens
The biggest gap in the table is the minor kitchen remodel: Cost vs. Value's national average puts it at more than its cost, and NAR at 60%. The reports price different jobs in different ways. NAR uses remodelers' median cost for a standard 2,300 sq ft house built after 1978, and Cost vs. Value prices its own project definitions with estimating software. A "minor" kitchen in one isn't the same scope as in the other.
What they agree on matters more. In NAR's chart, a minor kitchen upgrade and a complete kitchen renovation both recover 60%; in Cost vs. Value, the minor kitchen remodel makes the national top ten and a major kitchen remodel doesn't. Door replacements sit near the top of both lists. If resale is the goal, a kitchen refresh (new counters, fronts or paint, a faucet, a backsplash) is the safer bet than moving walls. For scale, our planning range for a tile backsplash is $450–$1,200; the size of your wall and the tile you pick set the written price.
Kitchens and bathrooms: where the money comes back
Buyers and inspectors look past the finishes first. A soft floor at the toilet, a fan that doesn't vent outside, loose tile or a stained ceiling under the bathroom all cost you more at sale than dated colors. Fix those before you pick tile. In Duluth's older homes, opening a wall often turns up old plumbing or wiring that has to be dealt with anyway; our guide to remodeling a bathroom in an older Duluth home covers what tends to surface.
Then keep the scope where the numbers point. A bathroom renovation sits at the bottom of NAR's list at 50%, so an expensive, highly personal bath is a remodel for you, not for the next owner. A kitchen does better, and the order of work decides whether it goes smoothly: see the order a kitchen remodel should go in. If you're remodeling to sell, the Realtors in NAR's survey rank painting the whole house, painting a room and new roofing ahead of a kitchen or bath project.
Taxes are a separate question from resale. IRS Publication 523 counts an improvement as work that adds to your home's value, prolongs its life or adapts it to new uses, and its examples include kitchen modernization, flooring, additions, decks, fences, retaining walls, new siding and storm windows (IRS Publication 523). Painting, fixing leaks and filling cracks are repairs, unless they're done as part of an extensive remodel. Keep your invoices; a tax preparer can tell you what they mean for your sale.
Basements, additions and decks
A finished basement did well in NAR's survey, recovering 71%. Appraisers handle it differently from main-floor space: Fannie Mae's guide doesn't count a below-grade level in above-grade square footage or room count, but says those rooms may still add substantially to value, especially when the finish is high quality (Fannie Mae Selling Guide). The catch in the Northland is water. A basement that stays damp through the spring thaw will cost you at sale, finished or not, so dry it first; the basement finishing checklist walks through the tests.
Additions are the most expensive way to add space, and NAR's new primary suite recovered 54%. Build one because you need the room and plan to stay. Decks land in between: Cost vs. Value's 2025 national averages put a wood deck addition at 94.9% and a composite deck at 88.5%. On a Duluth hillside lot, where the yard may be too steep to use, a deck can be the only flat outdoor space the house has. Footings go at least 5 feet deep here, which is part of the cost; see decking materials for the Northland for the wood-or-composite choice.
Do kitchen remodels increase home value?
Yes, but usually by less than they cost. NAR's 2025 Remodeling Impact Report puts a complete kitchen renovation and a minor kitchen upgrade each at about 60% of cost recovered at resale. Zonda's 2025 Cost vs. Value report has a minor kitchen remodel above its cost as a national average, while a major kitchen remodel doesn't make its top ten.
The smaller kitchen job does at least as well as the full gut in both, so a refresh is the safer investment.
Does a bathroom remodel increase home value?
It adds some value, but it's one of the weakest paybacks: a bathroom renovation recovered 50% of its cost in NAR's 2025 survey, the lowest in its cost-recovery chart, and adding a new bathroom recovered 56%. Fix leaks, soft floors and a fan that doesn't vent before you sell, and remodel for your own comfort rather than a buyer's.
What is the ROI on finishing a basement?
About 71% of the cost, according to NAR's 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, which surveyed Realtors on a basement converted to living area. Appraisers for Fannie Mae loans don't count it in above-grade square footage, though Fannie Mae says finished below-grade rooms may still add substantially to value.
A basement that leaks in the spring won't earn that return, so solve water first.
Is a bathroom remodel a capital improvement?
Generally, yes. IRS Publication 523 treats work that adds value, prolongs your home's life or adapts it to new uses as an improvement, which adds to your home's basis. Painting or fixing a leak alone is a repair, but repairs done as part of an extensive remodel count with the remodel.
Keep every invoice, and ask a tax preparer how it applies when you sell.
Deciding whether a project is worth it for your house? Send photos and your wish list, or call or text (715) 919-7956, and we'll price the version that fits your plans in a written quote, with the remodeling scope spelled out line by line.
Next steps. If you want help with this, start with the home remodeling page or How Much Does a Home Remodel Cost in Duluth, MN? We serve Duluth and Superior.
Keep reading: Replacing a Toilet or Faucet in Duluth: Measure First and Paying for a Remodel in MN and WI: Loans and Medicare.