Dave Smith wrote:
>
>Someone suggested here some time ago that updating a kitchen may help to
>sell a house faster, but won't increase the price, so chances are that
>you are not going to get your money back. Others have told me that
>houses have kitchens and bathrooms, so renovating those rooms is not
>likely to increase the value of the house. As you pointed out, buyers
>may have their one tastes and may change everything themselves.
>
>I guess the moral of the story is that if you have a nice kitchen it
>should help you to sell, but don't pump a lot of money into an old
>kitchen expect to get the money back.

It's all relative... mostly depends on the existing kitchen's
condition... it's true one won't recoup much of the cost of a 20K
upgrade but updating doesn't automatically mean a total rehab to a
designer kitchen. Often under a grand invested in a new composite
countertop, a new sink, new roll flooring, and perhaps a new/brighter
lighting fixture is all it will take to sell what won't sell at all
otherwise. When a house sells sooner rather than many months later
the savings can be significent just in carrying costs... and a house
in better condition than its competition will indeed bring a higher
selling price. There are many inexpensive improvements one can make
to help sell a house... could be as small an upgrade as a new front
door mat, and a few flats of petunias at the entrance... some houses
have been known to sell simply due to investing $20 in a new toilet
seat. No one will buy a house that when they lift the seat they
notice it's worn and the bowl is unkempt. One thing I always do when
viewing a house is to crumple some TP and check out how each toilet
flushes... if the TP doesn't go down smartly I leave.