The Home Improvement Project That Can Give You the Biggest Return on Your Investment January 30, 2017 When most people, most homeowners, think about home improvement projects, they want to get a solid return on their investment. It’s one of the reasons why many of these people immediately think about renovating the kitchen, putting on an addition to their home, finishing the basement, or renovating their bathroom. While those projects may certainly provide a significant boost for their investment, few can even compare to the potential for replacement windows and doors, not just with regard to an increased value in the house itself, but other cost savings as well. How can replacing windows and doors boost the value of the house? If you go out house hunting, what are the things you look for? Most people focus on the layout, the general appearance of the house from the outside, and the potential on the inside. You want to know about the condition of the roof, the foundation, and other key aspects of the house. If the house looks relatively decent, but the carpeting obviously needs to be replaced and maybe the floors need to be sanded down and refinished, that’s going to detract from their offer. If the windows look dingy, pitted, cracked, old, and worn out, that’s also going to have a significant impact on an offer. So, as a result, when the windows of the house look outdated, worn out, and as though they aren’t going to protect the interior of the house from the cold winter months ahead, they’re probably going to take that into account when presenting their offer. That could potentially detract $10,000, $15,000, or more from the offer. The average cost of replacing windows in the average home in Ontario is around $4,000 to $5,000. Of course, that all depends on the size, style, and quality windows a homeowner chooses. When you do the calculations, you can easily see how the investment immediately doubles or even triples, based on new assessed value. On top of all that, it’s also about saving money during the winter. By replacing old, drafty windows and doors with high quality, extremely energy-efficient ones, the cost savings during the winter can be tremendous. A homeowner can save hundreds of dollars every single month throughout the winter. After five, seven, or 10 years, the money they save on heating expenses can more than cover the actual cost of the windows and doors.