Which Home Improvements Actually Add Value Before You Sell in Ohio?

Before you spend a dollar getting your home ready to list, know which upgrades pay off — and which ones quietly drain your net proceeds.

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Published June 2026 · Updated June 2026 · By Douglas Haney & The Haney Group, Springfield, OH

Douglas Haney leads The Haney Group at Coldwell Banker Heritage, working alongside Lisa Ackerman, Brad Shuman, and Amanda Russell to guide buyers and sellers through Springfield, Fairborn, Dayton, and all of Southwest and Central Ohio every day.

Quick Answer

The highest-ROI home improvements before selling are almost all exterior: garage door replacement returns 268%, a steel entry door returns 216%, and a minor kitchen refresh returns 113% — all per the 2025 Cost vs. Value Report. In Springfield and Fairborn, condition and curb appeal consistently outperform costly interior renovations. Most sellers overspend in the wrong places. Here is how to spend right.

Every seller asks the same question before listing: what should I fix up first? It sounds simple. But the answer separates sellers who net what they expected from those who spend $30,000 on renovations and walk away with less than they planned.

Our team at Douglas Haney & The Haney Group has watched this play out across Springfield, Fairborn, and the Dayton metro time and again. Sellers gut kitchens, add bathrooms, replace flooring — and then discover buyers in their price range weren't willing to pay a full premium for those choices. Meanwhile, a $4,672 garage door would have returned nearly three times its cost.

The data that guides our advice comes from the 2025 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report — the real estate industry's most widely cited annual study on renovation ROI, published by Zonda and Remodeling Magazine. The findings are clear, and they tend to surprise sellers. Let us walk you through what actually moves the needle, what rarely does, and how to build a pre-sale improvement plan that protects your proceeds.

268% ROI on garage door replacement — #1 project two years running

9 of 10 Top-ROI projects in 2025 were exterior improvements

50% Of Realtors recommend painting the entire home before listing (NAR, 2025)

Sources: 2025 Cost vs. Value Report via Opendoor · NAR 2025 Remodeling Impact Report

What Home Improvements Have the Highest ROI Before Selling?

The 2025 Cost vs. Value Report tracks real project costs and the resale value they recover across hundreds of U.S. markets. For the second straight year, the results are dominated by one theme: exterior beats interior, and affordability beats ambition.

According to Opendoor's analysis of the 2025 Cost vs. Value Report, a garage door replacement costs an average of $4,672 and returns $12,526 in resale value — a 268% return. A steel entry door at $2,435 returns $5,258 (216%). These two projects cost less than $7,200 combined and both return more than double their investment. Meanwhile, a major kitchen overhaul costing $85,000 or more returns only 51–65 cents on the dollar.

The reason exterior wins is psychology. Buyers form their emotional verdict about a home within the first 15 seconds of pulling up. What they see in that moment — the garage door, the entry, the landscaping, the condition of the facade — shapes how they value everything inside. A home that feels cared-for from the street gets more generous offers. One that looks dated or neglected makes buyers skeptical before they step through the door.

Project	Avg. Cost	Resale Value Added	ROI
Garage Door Replacement	$4,672	$12,526	268%
Steel Entry Door Replacement	$2,435	$5,258	216%
Manufactured Stone Veneer	~$11,000	~$22,800	208%
Minor Kitchen Remodel	$28,458	$32,141	113%
Mid-Range Bathroom Remodel	$26,138	~$20,900	~80%
Major Kitchen Remodel	$85,000+	~$55,000	51–65%

Source: 2025 Cost vs. Value Report / Opendoor · National averages; individual market results vary.

💡 Haney Group Insight

The two best-performing projects in the report together cost less than a mid-range bathroom remodel — and both return more than double their investment. In the Springfield and Fairborn price range, that math matters. Start with the free home valuation tool to see where your home stands, then let us help you build a pre-sale plan around the actual numbers.

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What Low-Cost Improvements Do Ohio Sellers Overlook?

The best pre-sale improvements are not always the biggest ones. According to the NAR 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, something as simple as a professional lawn care service with weed control and fertilizer can return up to 300% of its cost — and 14% of Realtors who recommended it reported the home sold faster as a result.

These are the high-impact, lower-cost moves we walk our sellers through before every listing in Springfield, Fairborn, and across the surrounding Greene and Montgomery County market:

Pre-Sale Improvement Checklist: Where to Start

✓	Fresh neutral paint throughout — Whole-house interior repaint typically runs $2,000–$3,500. Photographs well, makes rooms feel larger, and is the single most universally recommended pre-sale step. NAR reports 50% of Realtors advise painting the entire home before listing.
✓	Landscaping and curb appeal — Edging, fresh mulch, pruned hedges, and two or three potted plants at the entry transform first impressions. Professional lawn care with weed control can return up to 300% of its cost and demonstrably speeds up sales.
✓	Deep clean and declutter — Professional cleaning makes every listing photo better and removes sensory distractions during showings. Decluttering lets buyers focus on space, not stuff — a critical difference in how they mentally price a home.
✓	Fix the punch list — Leaky faucets, squeaky doors, cracked switch plates, burned-out bulbs. Each one individually is nothing. Together, they read as a pattern of neglect — and buyers use them to justify lower offers and more aggressive inspection demands.
✓	Update cabinet hardware — Swapping dated brass pulls for brushed nickel or matte black costs $150–$400 for a whole kitchen or bathroom and reads as a fresh, modern update in listing photos without touching a single cabinet or countertop.
✓	Refresh lighting fixtures — Replace dated ceiling fixtures with clean, modern LED alternatives. Budget $300–$700 for the whole house. Dark, yellow-tinted rooms feel smaller in person and worse in photos. Bright, clean lighting is one of the lowest-cost, highest-impact changes in a listing.

How Should You Prioritize Pre-Sale Improvements Step by Step?

One of the most common mistakes we see is sellers tackling projects in the wrong order — spending on cosmetic upgrades before the basics are solid, or doing expensive work without understanding the neighborhood price ceiling first. Here is the sequence that protects your investment:

Your Pre-Sale Improvement Sequence

1	Get a current valuation first Use our free home valuation tool to establish a baseline number, then talk to our team about where your home sits relative to active comparables. Every improvement decision flows from this — you can't know what's worth doing until you know what the market ceiling is.
2	Fix condition issues before anything cosmetic Work through the punch list — anything a buyer will find in the inspection. Roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, water intrusion. Buyers use these as negotiating leverage; sellers who address them proactively close with cleaner contracts and fewer last-minute concessions.
3	Invest in exterior curb appeal Garage door, entry door, paint or power wash, landscaping. These are what buyers see first, and the ROI data consistently shows they return the most. A home that looks sharp from the street gets more showings and more generous first offers.
4	Refresh interiors with neutral, low-cost updates Paint, updated hardware, lighting, professional cleaning. These create a "move-in ready" impression without the cost and timeline risk of major renovations. They also improve listing photos significantly, which drives more showings.
5	Only then consider selective major improvements A minor kitchen refresh, new flooring, or a bathroom update — only if your comparables are doing it and your price point supports it. Major renovations should be the last step, not the first, and only when the ROI math justifies the investment in your specific neighborhood.

💡 Haney Group Insight

Every neighborhood has a price ceiling — the most a buyer will pay regardless of how nice the finishes are. Over-improving beyond that ceiling is money that simply does not come back. Before you spend anything significant, let our team walk through your home and tell you exactly where that ceiling is for your street. Schedule a conversation here.

What Do Sellers in Springfield and Fairborn Specifically Need to Know?

Market context matters. The right pre-sale strategy in Springfield is not identical to what works in Fairborn, and neither is the same as the Columbus suburbs. Our team works across all three of these markets daily, and the differences are real.

In Springfield — our home market in Clark County — buyers at the median price point are primarily looking for clean, well-maintained, and move-in ready. They are not typically paying significant premiums for luxury finishes. A seller who spends $45,000 on a kitchen renovation in this price range is almost certainly over-improving. A seller who invests in a new garage door, fresh paint, and a clean exterior is not. The same logic applies across the surrounding Clark County communities we serve.

Fairborn sits at an interesting intersection: Greene County, close to Wright-Patterson AFB and the Beavercreek corridor. That proximity broadens the buyer pool — military families, Dayton metro professionals, and buyers comparing against higher-priced Beavercreek homes. In some Fairborn price tiers, a well-done minor kitchen refresh genuinely helps you compete. But the rule of thumb remains: condition and curb appeal first, selective interior updates second, and only when the comparables justify it.

Energy efficiency is also increasingly relevant for both markets. The ENERGY STAR Home Upgrade program identifies six high-impact upgrades — insulation, heat pump HVAC, efficient windows, smart thermostat, heat pump water heater, and electric panel readiness — that reduce buyer objections around HVAC age and utility costs. ENERGY STAR-certified windows alone can cut household energy bills by an average of 12%, which buyers increasingly factor into their total cost-of-ownership math. In the mid-to-upper price tiers, having newer HVAC and insulation documented at listing can meaningfully reduce inspection concessions.

"Condition and curb appeal first, selective interior updates second — and only when the comparables justify it."

LA

"I always tell buyers what they're actually reacting to during a showing — and nine times out of ten it is not the kitchen. It is whether the home feels cared for. A fresh garage door, clean paint, a tidy yard — that tells a buyer the seller respected the property. That feeling is worth real money at the negotiating table." — Lisa Ackerman, The Haney Group at Coldwell Banker Heritage

Frequently Asked Questions: Home Improvements and Resale Value in Ohio

Which home improvement adds the most value before selling?

Garage door replacement — 268% ROI, averaging $4,672 in cost and $12,526 in resale value added per the 2025 Cost vs. Value Report. Steel entry door replacement comes in second at 216% ROI. Both are exterior improvements that make an impact before a buyer enters the home.

Is a full kitchen remodel worth it before selling in Ohio?

Rarely at the full-gut level. A major kitchen overhaul returns only 51–65% of its cost nationally. A minor kitchen refresh — new cabinet fronts, updated countertops, mid-grade appliances — returns 113% and is a far smarter investment. In Springfield's price range, we typically advise against full kitchen renovations unless the kitchen is significantly below neighborhood standard.

Should I repaint my home before listing?

Yes, in almost every case. NAR's 2025 Remodeling Impact Report found 50% of Realtors recommend painting the entire home before listing. Fresh neutral paint photographs well, makes rooms feel larger, and consistently delivers buyer appeal well beyond its cost. Budget $2,000–$3,500 for a whole-house interior repaint.

What is the biggest pre-sale renovation mistake Ohio sellers make?

Over-improving beyond the neighborhood price ceiling. Every street has a ceiling — the most buyers will pay regardless of finishes. Spending above it means the investment does not come back. The second most common mistake: spending on personalized or taste-specific upgrades that buyers see as something they would have to live with rather than something that adds value.

Do energy efficiency upgrades help sell a home faster in Ohio?

They can, especially in mid-range and upper-tier markets where buyers are doing total cost-of-ownership math. ENERGY STAR-certified windows reduce energy bills by an average of 12%, and newer HVAC systems eliminate one of the most common inspection negotiation points. Whether they are worth doing pre-sale depends on your specific price tier and what your comparables are showing — a conversation with your agent before spending is always the right first move.

How do I know what my home is worth before I start improvements?

Start with the free automated valuation at doug.thehaneygroup.com/seller to get a current baseline. Then contact our team for a pre-listing walkthrough — we will show you the actual comparable sales in your area and give you a clear picture of what buyers are paying and what improvements will and won't move your number. Call (937) 821-8103 or visit thehaneygroup.com/contact.

The sellers who net the most from their Ohio home sale are rarely the ones who spent the most getting ready. They are the ones who spent strategically — starting with condition, leading with curb appeal, and only then considering selective interior updates backed by real comparable data.

Douglas Haney, Lisa Ackerman, Brad Shuman, and Amanda Russell are ready to walk your home, tell you honestly what buyers will notice — and what they won't — and help you build a pre-sale plan that protects your proceeds. That conversation starts with your current home value: get your free valuation here.

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Douglas Haney & The Haney Group — Lisa Ackerman, Brad Shuman, and Amanda Russell — will walk your home and tell you exactly what to do before you list. Let's build a plan together.

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