Which improvements actually add value
A renovation can raise what a home would sell for, but far less reliably than the spend suggests. Two things are worth separating: which projects tend to return the most, and why an online estimate will not reflect any of them.
Cost recouped is usually under 100 percent
Cost-versus-value surveys have found for years that most projects return less than they cost at resale. Kitchens and bathrooms recover more than average. A pool, a sunroom, or a very personal high-end renovation often recovers much less. Spending more does not linearly buy more value.
The best returns are usually the least glamorous
Curb appeal does a lot of quiet work: a new entry door, a garage door, siding, and plain good condition tend to punch above their cost because they shape the first impression every buyer forms. Deferred maintenance works in the other direction, subtracting value without any single line item to point at.
Why your estimate will not show it
An area index applies a market-wide change to what you paid. It has no way to know you redid the kitchen, so an index-based estimate, including the one here, will not credit an improvement. The tool that captures a specific improvement is an appraisal, which looks at your actual house. Why an estimate is not an appraisal.
The honest way to think about it
Improve a home because you want to live in it that way, and treat any resale return as a partial rebate rather than an investment. The projects that also happen to return well are the ordinary ones: condition, kitchens, baths, and curb appeal.