What remodeling projects have the best ROI?

In Zonda’s 2025 Cost vs Value survey, a garage door replacement ranked first at 267.7% estimated recoup. The midrange minor kitchen, at 112.9%, was the only inside project in the top five. These are survey estimates, not sale prices.

How is remodeling ROI calculated?

Resale gain ÷ project cost × 100. A $40,000 project that adds $24,000 at resale recoups 60%. The hard part is the resale gain: get it from an appraiser or recent comparable sales.

Is Cost vs Value accurate for my house?

It is not built to be. Job costs come from estimating software and resale values from surveyed real-estate professionals across 115 markets. Use it to rank projects against each other, not to forecast your house.

Does a kitchen remodel pay for itself?

One survey estimates a midrange minor kitchen recoups 112.9% at resale. A kitchen that moves walls and plumbing is a different project. Your figure depends on your street and your market.

What if I am not selling soon?

Then the resale gain is only part of the return. The rest is the years you use the room. The calculator shows what is not recouped so you can judge that trade.

Does HyreRemodel appraise homes?

No. HyreRemodel does not appraise homes or forecast values. The calculator divides the two figures you type.

HyreRemodel tools

Remodeling ROI calculator

Type your project cost and a resale gain an appraiser or agent would support. National survey percentages rank projects; they do not price your house.

112.9% estimated resale recoup, midrange minor kitchen remodel Zonda, Cost vs Value 2025, retrieved September 29, 2026: $28,458 job cost, $32,141 estimated value at sale. An estimate by surveyed real-estate professionals, not a sale price.

Remodeling ROI at resale = the resale gain you can support ÷ the project cost. A $40,000 project that an appraiser says adds $24,000 recoups 60%, and $16,000 pays for the use of the room. Survey figures such as Cost vs Value’s rank projects; they are not your return.

Work out your recoup

Arithmetic on your figures. Nothing is stored or emailed.

— Recouped at resale

— Not recouped

— What it means

What this assumed —

Resale gain ÷ cost. HyreRemodel does not appraise homes.

Worked examples

The same arithmetic on two sets of figures

Your project, an appraiser’s figure

A $40,000 project that an appraiser says adds $24,000: 60% recouped, and $16,000 paid for the use of the room.

The survey’s minor kitchen

$32,141 estimated resale gain ÷ $28,458 job cost = 112.9%. That is Zonda’s national estimate for a model project, not a house that sold.

Recoup = resale gain ÷ project cost. The $40,000 and $24,000 are examples; type yours.

The top five projects in Cost vs Value 2025

Ranked by the share of cost the survey estimates comes back at resale. 28 projects, 115 US markets.

Project	Inside or outside	Estimated recoup
Garage door replacement	Outside	267.7%
Entry door replacement, steel	Outside	216.4%
Manufactured stone veneer	Outside	207.9%
Fiber-cement siding replacement	Outside	113.7%
Minor kitchen remodel, midrange	Inside	112.9%

Zonda, Cost vs Value 2025, retrieved September 29, 2026. Resale values are estimates by surveyed real-estate professionals, not observed sale prices.

What Cost vs Value measures, and what it does not

How it is built. Job costs are produced with Verisk’s XactRemodel estimating software. Resale values are estimated by surveyed real-estate professionals. They are not observed sale prices, and no house in the report was sold to test the figure.

How to use it. Cost vs Value is not a measurement of what your house will sell for. Its resale side is a survey of professional opinion, gathered in one year. Use it to rank projects against each other, not as a forecast of your own return.

What the ranking shows. Four of the top five are outside projects. The minor kitchen remodel is the only inside project among them.

How to get a resale gain you can support

An appraiser

Ask for an estimate of value as the house is and as it would be with the planned work, from the plans.

An agent’s comparables

Recent sales near you with and without the kind of work you plan. Sold prices, not asking prices.

Your street’s ceiling

The highest recent sales nearby. A remodel far above them may not show up in value.

Your own time horizon

If you will live there for years, the resale gain is only part of what the money buys.

Mistakes that inflate a remodeling ROI

Using a national percentage as your resale gain
112.9% of your cost is not what your kitchen adds. It is one survey’s estimate for a model project.
Leaving out financing
Interest on a loan for the work is part of the cost.
Counting asking prices as comparables
Only sold prices show what buyers paid.
Ignoring the time until you sell
A gain estimated today is not a sale price years from now.

What the calculator leaves out

A forecast. It divides two numbers you type. HyreRemodel does not appraise homes and has no forecast for your address.

The cost of moving instead. For that comparison, use the remodel vs move calculator.

Questions this calculator answers

What remodeling projects have the best ROI?: In Zonda’s 2025 Cost vs Value survey, a garage door replacement ranked first at 267.7% estimated recoup. The midrange minor kitchen, at 112.9%, was the only inside project in the top five. These are survey estimates, not sale prices.
How is remodeling ROI calculated?: Resale gain ÷ project cost × 100. A $40,000 project that adds $24,000 at resale recoups 60%. The hard part is the resale gain: get it from an appraiser or recent comparable sales.
Is Cost vs Value accurate for my house?: It is not built to be. Job costs come from estimating software and resale values from surveyed real-estate professionals across 115 markets. Use it to rank projects against each other, not to forecast your house.
Does a kitchen remodel pay for itself?: One survey estimates a midrange minor kitchen recoups 112.9% at resale. A kitchen that moves walls and plumbing is a different project. Your figure depends on your street and your market.
What if I am not selling soon?: Then the resale gain is only part of the return. The rest is the years you use the room. The calculator shows what is not recouped so you can judge that trade.
Does HyreRemodel appraise homes?: No. HyreRemodel does not appraise homes or forecast values. The calculator divides the two figures you type.

Sources and methodology

Figures dated September 29, 2026. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.

Cost vs Value Report 2025 (38th annual edition) (Zonda, retrieved September 29, 2026). 28 projects, 115 markets; resale values from surveyed real-estate professionals.

Remodel vs move calculator The remodel against the cash it takes to change houses.
Kitchen remodel cost calculator A project cost for the first box.
Kitchen remodeling What a same-layout kitchen involves.
Bathroom remodeling Waterproofing, fixtures and the scope.
What remodeling costs What moves a remodeling price.
Whether to remodel before selling What to fix, and what to skip.

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