FrontDoor.com

1. Home Office

• Cost of home office remodel: $13,143
• Average resale value: $9,569
• Percentage of cost recovered: 93.5%
• Best return: San Francisco 115.2%
• Worst return: Wichita, Kan. 36.4%

If you work from home, spending money to turn a 12x12 room into a home office with custom cabinets, 20 feet of laminate desktop, and upgraded wiring for all your electronic gadgets may be worth it. But as a presale investment, it doesn't pay off.

Remodeling rooms people spend less time in (a home office, media room or master bedroom addition) might be worth it for a particular homeowner. But from the standpoint of making a difference in the value of the house, there's a 50% to 75% return rate.

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