Wouldn't it be great to know just how must impact a basement renovation will have on the market value of your home? Wouldn't it be great if we could supply some definitive figures here on our blog to tell you just that?

Unfortunately, definitive figures are pretty much impossible to calculate. Every home is different and every buyer's needs are different.

However, we took a quick and dirty look at some MLS® figures to see if we could find anything interesting...

...

1.)   We searched for homes that sold between December 1, 2007 and November 30, 2009

2.)   All homes were single-detached 2 storey houses

3.)   They all had 3 bedrooms, 2 to 4 bathrooms and a garage

4.)   The homes were between 6 and 20 years old

5.)   They sold between $209,000 and $439,000

Here are the results:

• Number of homes: 349

• Homes with an UNFINISHED basement averaged $294,850 (median was $282,000)

• Homes with a FINISHED basement averaged $306,442 (median was $296,000)

• The average "Days on Market" were the same for both FINISHED and UNFINISHED basements, (33 days on market)

• The selling price as a percentage of listing price was also the same in both instances (98%)

The average price difference was $11,592 (median difference was $14,000).

So the ROI (Return on Investment) would all depend upon how much you spend on the basement renovations... It is fairly safe to say that you would probably spend AT LEAST $11,500 to $15,000.