Kitchen Fixes Add Property Value

In American homes, the kitchen has evolved from simply a place to prepare meals, to the most popular room in which families gather at the end of the day. Modern kitchens serve as the hub of the home, where you do everything from entertaining dinner guests to helping your children with their math homework.

With its important role in our lifestyles, the kitchen is quickly becoming one of the most important features that homebuyers single out during their home search. John Bredermeyer of the Appraisal Institute tells Money magazine that improving or expanding your kitchen is a great way to increase your property value.

"A lot of people buy the kitchen and take the house that comes along with it," he says. "So going from a cooking kitchen to an entertaining kitchen is likely to pay for itself when you sell your house someday."

Create an eat-in kitchen by adding stools to a counter to create a bar, or consider knocking down the wall separating the kitchen and dining room to form an attached eating area. If this isn't an option, consider sacrificing another area like a mudroom or laundry room for an expanded kitchen. Depending on the individual house, construction costs for such a renovation can be as little as $2,000, with a significant return on investment.