So you’re planning to place some improvements in your home as soon as summer hits. Ever wonder what good will those improvements do to your home? Well, with real estate values sinking with the economic woes, you might have to wisely choose what improvements to take. Read on to see which home improvements could provide top-dollar resale value for your home.

Some improvements don’t give you 100% return of investment. Improvements like a pool or tennis court in a middle class suburban spot might only give you around 25% back when it’s time to sell your home. Not really impressive if you’re money conscious. Here are some improvements that you can consider if you’re looking for better resale values.

Exterior: Focus on the first things that agents and buyers look at. A paint job, lawn turf, driveway, and gutters are the common ones that you can invest on and have immediate result. The reason? These thing create the impression that you are a responsible and home-loving seller.

Interior: A gold-plated bed headboard would really bring up your home value but regular people can’t have those. So why not focus on just two key areas: the kitchen and the bathroom. Proper layout and installation of appliances in the kitchen can do the trick. Ample storage, plumbing and lighting for the kitchen also score high in resale. Additional bathrooms in a home can even bring back 100% return in your investment come resale time.

Basement and Garage: Basements with good waterproofing also score high with resale.

Others: Getting rid of pests can definitely spike up your house’s resale value.