I put in granite counter tops, new kitchens, nice bathrooms and also gut the plumbing and electrical so the housing is in good condition. 

New roof, new water heater, new Electrical panel, New HVAC, new Concrete driveway, new Concrete steps & walkout basement, Open space of kitchen and living room, fully finished basement with wet bar and new full bathroom, new windows.

Talk about how good the schools are, how close to the beaches or other attractions, Size/type of kitchen, ease of maintenance of swimming pool if in place or jet powered swim lane, Covered parking if so, etc. 

They can be wrecked.The third thing they have are kitchen and bathroom sinks.

As far as ROI, there are a few givens that will always give the majority or even dollar for dollar back, such as landscaping, flooring, updated kitchen and bathrooms, and security systems.

It's rough in the way that they have let their kids draw all over the walls and the kitchen counters are from the 80's.

It's not unusual to find 2x4 rafters or 40 amp service above the kitchen sink etc. 

We added value by re-doing the whole house, installed vinyl floorings, rebuilt 2 and a half bathrooms, re-painted the whole house, replaced all the hardware in the house, installed new lighting, ceiling fans, re-painted the kitchen, and completely remodeled the upstairs.

Been at it for 5 years now, and absolutely love it, a lot of kitchens, bathrooms, floors, a few decks, and a couple compete basement finishes.

The contractor has stated that they'll fix any damage, but some of the damage is to drywall that has kitchen cabinets hung on them.