Righteous Renovations! These Home Features Are Proven to Pay Off (4 0f 6)

Exteriors: patios (No. 3), front porches (No. 10), and two-car garages (No. 13)

Making the most of outdoor living spaces has become a national obsession among homeowners. People are spending more time and money building out luxe outdoor kitchens complete with sinks and pizza ovens, and picture-perfect gazebos.

Yet the hottest outdoor home features are still the basics: patios, front porches, and two-car garages.

“There is something very pleasurable about covered porches—they allow you to be outside while protected from the rain and heat,” says Stuart Narofsky, principal of New York-based Narofsky Architecture. “No one really wants to hang out in the sun anymore.”

And homeowners are finding new and fun ways to make use of their patios, which have a median 108 days on the market.

“More and more homeowners are putting in big firepits out by their patios, setting up outdoor furniture. People are basically building outdoor rooms around their patios,” says Elizabeth Lawson, owner of Elizabeth Lawson, an interior design firm based in Maryland.

Dual garages, meanwhile, have posted a 16.1% price appreciation over the past two years.

In most American housing markets, households typically own more than one car. So two-car garages are often seen as more of a necessity than a desire— no circling the block or having your ex scratch your ride if it's parked on the street. We’re looking at you, Carrie Underwood.

Homes with two-car garages have a median value of $313,350, or about a 16% appreciation since 2015.