Hm... The question is, did those previous house sales really return 93% of the fancy kitchen? Or would an economical but lovely kitchen update propel the same purchase price? Because I'd be willing to be the answer leans toward the latter. House prices are what they are because of demand and financing availability much more than because of features. As far as I know, the only consistent winner is a second bathroom in a previously one bathroom house. The rest is for your enjoyment.

I actually struggle with the whole idea of renovating for the sale market - sure, a lick of paint, some window dressing (fresh plants in the front yard) and renewing or replacing things that are broken, really worn out or otherwise in NEED of it, but remodeling exclusively for the sake of resale makes no sense to me. If one is going to spend that kind of money, I'd much rather it's for my own pleasure and taste than somebody else's!

And, of course, as somebody who bought most of my appliances brand new on Craigslist at a heavy discount due to them having been installed for sale and then IMMEDIATELY replaced by the new owner, I just don't get it.

I suspect I'm in the minority on this (and, of course, this is the first house I've ever owned thus I"ve never had to contend with selling) but ... fwiw :)

My mom always said you update to get enjoyment out of it, not thinking you will get the money back when you sell. I remember seeing houses advertise that all the carpet was brand new replaced ... my mom would say well what if I don't like pink carpets, berber or whatever the person used, how is that supposed to translate to paying more to the purchase price. That said, I've noticed the house prices vary in my neighborhood and I have to assume that has to do with how much updating in general the house has. The difference wouldn't be the cost of updating the kitchen and bath etc. with the latest trends but if the house hasn't been touched since the 70's and is "well maintained" it isn't selling for as much as the house with updated kitchen and baths.

isn't this just a symptom of the problems with the housing market generally? if it is increasingly a buyer's market, returning a smaller percentage of the investment is npt surpirsing to me . and, while you might not get full value, in a buyer's market i could see it actually being more impt. to have those bells and whistles if you want your house to sell.

I update for ME - it is MY home. I don't worry about what others will want in the future - that's not my problem - but theirs.

"People planning to sell shouldn't over-improve,"

For some houses granite (or Caesarstone, or soapstone, etc.) may be overimproving. But in some price points you absolutely have to have nicer finish details, it is expected and buyers will mentally subtract more than the item costs from the price.

Although I dont plan on ever moving, you never know. When I do my kitchen I want it for me, my tastes. However, having bought, sold and renovated four other homes before this, I canÂt help but have that "resale" thing in the back of my mind. It isnÂt necessarily bad to have a little of that thought process going on. In my case I will be an empty nester in a few years but I have to remember that this is four bedroom home that will most likely go to a family with children someday. My kitchen layout is very bad now and I am limited on what can be done, the layout changes made will be conducive to a family with children not empty nesters (incase of resale) but the style & colors will be for me.

Just like I said in a posting last month...in our kitchen forum there seems to have been a subtle turn away from bells and whistles "I've got to have the best of the best" renovations. The general tone of topics seems to be more grounded and real, geared towards real solutions to real problems.

I don't see as many obsessed discussions about having to have the "perfect" once in a lifetime knob that costs about $50 a unit and adds the just right touch because anything else just won't do. And less of "it's MY kitchen and I deserve it, so I'm going to go whole hog".

Sorry....just kidding...slightly...:)

I'm not sure how that article means "good-bye to granite". Granite or any other natural stone isn't always over improving. If I finished my kitchens and popped a formica countertop on them...well that would be underimproving and would be a glaring stand out to any buyer.

I just looked at our next house and while 95% of the house is in very fine (if dingy) condition, being a high end mcmansion of the 1914 period :oP The kitchen had recently been redone badly. Off of a butlers pantry with inset cabinets, walnut countertops and a silver sink, they put in formica countertops and plastic cabinets. Fortunately they didn't throw away the original pieces..so it can be repaired, but it was a huge disapointment for such a fabulous home!

I expected a 60% return on our kitchen in the current place. Realisticly that's sane. Expecting 75% or more is silly.

I guess we're in a really enviable position. The absolute most we could afford in this very desirable school district was a tiny bungalow priced at the absolute bottom of the neighbourhood because it's so small.

Even so, we bought at the end of 2004 convinced the market was at its height, but it continued to climb in our area - when we went to do the refi earlier this year to fund the remodeling work (always planned, from the day we moved in), we discovered that, even in the much softer current market with a CRAPPY kitchen, no closets, no deck, 2brs (or 2.5, if you included the walkthrough)... our equity had grown by approximately 60% or so. Our guess is that with the improvements - it's probably worth about double what we paid for it. Since we are here for the forseeable future - no plans to move that we know about! - we figure that even in a dropping market we should be ok with the improvements we made.... which probably bring it about up to neighbouring properties.

I guess I digress - but it's all grist to the mill. I never even considered resale when we first started planning, to be honest, but I heard it bandied about so much that when we made final decisions I did consider how a future owner might use spaces we had built. We didn't cater to those speculative needs, but did try to design in a way that somebody COULD tweak it to their liking without too much trouble.

The thing about thinking about eventual resale when you're designing for yourself is to choose to do your individualisms in the easily changed things (scrambled egg yellow paint) and not in the big repair things (catwalks (for cats) crisscrossing every room with tunnels through all the walls), let alone the heavy construction things (sunken spa in the entryway and swim channel through living room and deck). No kidding. These are real :)

But there are two different concepts crossing in this discussion: One is whether your remodel will pay for itself. That means that the update will add a similar amount to the purchase price (for comps always look at the closed sales not the asking prices). The other is whether your windfall equity boost (amount above what you've paid in on capital that your house yields) will cover what you've spent.

I bet Divamum's addition of living space in the attic and a much more usable, let alone beautiful, kitchen, has added quite a bit of real worth to her house. For a lot of us, the amount the kitchen update adds in itself is probably pretty small. For most kitchens, new paint, removal of clutter and froufrou, and newish looking appliances will garner the bulk of the bump. If the cabinets, counters and floors are really worn out looking, replacing them with something that looks nice will also bump up the price. The finer things like the Wolf range and fancy granite might help make the sale in a soft market, but they're not so likely to pay for themselves. As Minac's mother said...

Cute headline but really not apropos to what was discussed in the article. Would've made more sense to call it something like Say good-bye to Viking ranges or SubZero fridges, etc.

I wouldn't classify granite as super high-end anymore. It's on par with MOST other counter materials: Solid surface (corian etc), Engineered stone (silestone, etc), soapstone. Only thing that is significantly cheaper is formica, and I don't see the entire kitchen remodeling industry going back to formica over these other surfaces. The gap in price between formica and granite, et al, is way smaller than it was 15 years ago.

Now, I can see the differnce between spending $10,000 or $2000 on a range or fridge for example. That's a significant difference.

Oh and I agree 100% regarding remodeling to please yourself. The only reason to remodel to please a buyer is if the condition of the kitchen (or bathroom or whatever) is so bad that it will make the house unsellable. Otherwise I'm in the fresh coat of paint/new plants in the yard camp. Making cosmetic changes to spruce up is a lot wiser than doing a large remodel if you're just going to sell the house. And as someone above pointed out, the longer it's been since the remodel occured, the less it will raise the selling price.

It's so funny- (in an ironic way- not a ha ha way) when you read blanket statements like a kitchen remodel will fetch a return of......% (fill in the blank).

That's assuming all kitchen remodels are done to the same standard, all homes in North America are worth exactly the same, everyone has the same taste... and that each $10,000
spent achieves exactly the same increase in worth.

It IS a good idea to have some idea of what value a home remodel has on your home's worth- just makes sense to be informed. But not all home remodels are equal. Nobody wants a sore thumb; on their hand or in their neighbourhood. I wonder if there is a site somewhere that shows before and after photos of remodels, and the before and after $$$worth. I watch WAY too many home fix it up shows, and I'm always puzzled by the figures shown- new countertops, $6000, increase in value $10,000, etc. Seems like in those cases, the remodeled house's value always goes up by WAY more than the cost.

You know, I cared about the horror stories when my DH was active duty army and we had to move every few years. We've made a small fortune in real estate and are also agents. I have a theory that is just an absolute truth. The typical homeowners need to only satisfy the desires of whomever it is that wants to buy their home. I've seen homes sell for more than hundred$ of thou$sand$ of dollar$ ABOVE appraisal in down markets all because that is what the seller demanded and they only needed ONE person to agree to pay them that amount. And if a Buyer needs a loan but has the cash to cover the negative equity the banks may go ahead and let them buy the house.

You know, it's all about location. If the market is down and location good, it's a safe gamble that the market will eventually heat back up. How long that takes is anyone's guess. We've lived in DC/MD/NOVA area several times over the past 25 years, which seemed to go through hot and cold cycles every 10~12 years. If you can afford to improve and hang on to the property, then put in whatever upgrades you want that will make you happy. I wouldn't let one these types of alamist articles influence me one bit.

Now an article on gas prices rising and buying an SUV has my attention.

I want to add my voice to the consensus that the article really has more to do with the housing contraction than the suitability of granite as a countertop.

Anyone who follows the improvement shows on TV is aware that you can over-improve any house: for sale purposes, it's always tougher to get 500k for a house in a 300k neighborhood than 500k in a 800k neighborhood.

But there are a lot of buyers out there for whom slab stone is on the 'must have' list. Houses without it simply won't sell at all, at some price point.

It's a buyers market, and will continue to be for years, with all the unsold inventory of new homes in most areas.

Why do studies about the value of remodels always come from people who stand to gain? Realtors want us to remodel so it's easier and faster to sell our house for a bigger commission. Construction people REALLY want us to remodel. I simply don't find their 'studies' and reports credible.

Others have pointed out that equity appreciation and remodel value are two totally unrelated concepts. Stories of remodels seldom mention financing costs or the strain of working with contractors. Trendy shows and newspaper articles seldom try to educate people. Add in how much housing markets vary from city to city, and this stuff is really hard to interpret in a meaningful way.

I agree with others, the title is completely "off". It should have been, "Goodbye to BLING in the Kitchen" but granite is pretty much the moderate countertop choice these days. The only thing significantly cheaper is laminates.

I question any survey that finds a 13% drop in the desire for "larger pantry spaces".

Who says, "Gee, nice kitchen, but I wish that pantry was just a little bit smaller." ?

LOL! Me! I'm taking out the step in pantry in favor of more cabinetry :) Like everything else pantries have to be well designed and useful :) But the point is still valid--there will be as much storage space :D

What gets me on those remodeling shows, however, is that they're always so willing to take out a closet in a storage challenged house for whatever gewgaw is currently a must have.

When there are a lot of homes on the market, your well renovated kitchen might make a buyer remember yours and make an offer, as opposed to the other 4 homes he looked at, same price range but no bling.

No ,you might not recoup all the money you put it but you might get an offer in a buyer's market, or stand out in a pool of homes to sell.

.

Take the article for what it's worth and from WHO wrote it..
IMHO
CNN is about as sharp as a marble..(pardon the pun)...

The ONLY folks who are going to embrace this piece as
a viable truth - are the folks that have been loosing all
of their business to the Natural Stone Industry - namely
the laminate & solid surface only contractors...
THEY are probably loving this article...

Not a problem for me... we just keep moving forward ;-)

kevin

Kevin M. Padden MIA SFA
Fabricator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry
www.azschoolofrock.com

I've always wondered exactly how do they come up with these figures? There are so many aspects to pricing a home including intangibles. In addition, while there are trends, each market can be very local due to many factors such as local job market etc. These general articles with doom and gloom headlines tend to be cheap fillers to draw you in to their website and useful in between the hard news IMO.

I'm updating our home right now - we build 10-11 years ago and it needs new paint and a few other minor updates. I know we're going to sell in a few years, so I want to make these updates now so I can live with them and enjoy them - I don't want to make them for the next owner who may hate them and rip them out. LOL. I'm walking the tight rope between making changes that I love but are attractive to the average buyer. So my personality is in my art work and furnishings. I think it's always helpful to refocus back to your own situation for a reality check.

Sky

Say goodbye instead to renovations done for people other than yourself and your family?

mitchdesj is oh so right. My remodeled kitchen sold my cookie cutter townhome. The buyer told our agent they chose our unit over the other three on the market because of the kitchen. It took 7 months before another unit in the complex sold.

Before putting my unit on the market I did a cheap remodel of new cabinets and granite and some new (craigslist) appliances for a cost of about 5k. Did I recoup my costs? In the long run if you look at the HOA fees, taxes, P&I, etc. that we would have had to pay in the 7 months it took to sell a similar unit I most certainly did.

I think in today's market the difference in granite countertops could make a difference in whether your home sells at all. (granite has really gotten quite cheap so why not?).

We remodeled our new kitchen for us... and in the off chance we ever have to sell this home in the near future I'm taking my appliances with me!!!!!

The Darius quoted in the article was our GC. We were one of his clients staying put for a long time.

I agree with those who say you should remodel for your own use and pleasure, but I also agree with Mitchdesj. We will remodel our 30-year-old kitchen this summer. If we sell in 10 years, being able to offer prospective buyers a 10-year-old kitchen instead of a 40-year-old kitchen might just make the sale.

I'm with Kevin, above. Stone slab countertops aren't going away, if for no other reason than that they can be more economical than laminate or tile. A good tile-setter here in LA will charge $125/linear foot or more for installation. If you shop right, you can find prefab 8' long granite countertops for as little as $150, with installation and minor fabrication for a few hundred dollars more. It won't be the finest workmanship at that price, but still, you can get a basic 8' countertop with 4" backplash for $600 or less, installed, while the tile-setter's labor alone will be twice that, without adding in the cost of tile, mortar, grout or hardibacker.

Unless you're buying prefab laminate counters at the big box store, toting them home yourself, and doing your own templating, cutting, and installation, you'll be hard put to match the price of those prefab stone counters. Special-order laminate costs about twice as much as prefab stone. So much for "In depth" reporting at CNN.

I was afraid this article would say granite was so yesterday and tacky. Since ours was just installed it would be tragic if CNN judged it to be passe.

Whew, they're only talking about money....