I think that until the poorly maintained homes come up to standard, they will drag the market in your neighborhood down and prospective buyers will make their decision on what they see on a drive-by and never see your neighbor's lovely granite.

I also think that there's a momentum that eventually gets going when many people in the neighborhood start upgrading. I think your neighbor is ahead of that curve and she might have to wait quite a while to see a payoff. Sure--her house might appeal to more people because of the upgrades, but it's also what's outside that counts.

This is obviously a "keeping up with the Joneses" thing.

I think you're on the wise track--you are doing what you can afford.

I personally love the laminate that is made to look like granite, the dark colors. We build homes ever so often, and the neighborhood you live in, sounds a lot like it. Very few of the builders in this neighborhood I am talking about, put in granite and didn't get any more profit than we did. We put in the granite-like laminate and a goldish tile backsplash w/some decoration tile in it, and it looked great. We did put in stainless steel appliances, not expensive ones though. However, my DH is a trim carpenter and we do put in quite a bit of trim in our homes, which helps in selling.

When you do get ready to sell, people don't mind tearing out a laminate countertop and putting in the granite of their choice.

Even if you buy into the HGTV philosophy, they state (most clearly on Bang For your Buck, but on other shows as well)...that you get X return on your investment on kitchen and bath renovations depending upon your geographical area. And, the average return on investment is less than 100% except in rare instances. So, you are actually losing money on these projects as a pure investment UNLESS property values are rising enough to make up the difference (which they are not in most markets).

There are some buyers who are looking for houses that are turnkey, so a house like your neighbor's may be worth the extra asking price she would need to ask. On the other hand, there are people who would rather upgrade to their own taste and would not like to pay for someone else's upgrades. HGTV acts as if this type of buyer does not exist.

I know a real estate agent who sold a house and a few years later, when it was on the market again, showed it to a different buyer. The current owners had upgraded the kitchen and master bath rather expensively, *In anticipation of putting it on the market*. After the closing, the new owners commented that the first thing they were going to do was "tear out that horrible kitchen". I don't know what it looked like, it could have been awesome...the point is, the new buyers didnt like it and bought the house *in spite* of it rather than *because of it.

Do what you like, don't stretch your budget beyond your comfort level and stop listening to your neighbor. Your buyer may be someone who likes your kitchen the way it is or wants to make their own upgrades.

When we gutted our bathrooms and kitchen in our previous house, several friends asked if, knowing that we would be retiring and moving in a few years, we were upgrading with selling in mind. My answer was no. We upgraded because we wanted to have nice bathrooms and a more efficient and modern kitchen.

Over the last 5 years before we moved we got rid of all carpet, refinished the hardwoods a couple of times, upgraded all the hardware, put crown moldings in almost every room, replaced windows, garage door, furnace, roof and had the yards professionally landscaped.

We really enjoyed the process of all of it. We had lived in that house for many years raising children and wanting to put our money into family vacations and supporting the kids financially in their sports, hobbies, talents, etc.

It was very satisfying to make our little home all that it could be. We enjoyed every minute in our newly improved house - we held more dinner parties and family dinners than every before and it was just really wonderful to live in a home where everything looked nice and was in good working order.

When we put our house up for sale about 20 months ago, the real estate market had already taken a severe tumble (Southern California). There were tons of homes on the market with some modest upgrades but very few in the condition that our home was in.

Some buyers either were looking for bare-bones fixers at bare-bones prices and a few (mostly professional couples) were looking for homes in safe, clean and established neighborhoods that they could just move into without having to worry about upgrading anything because it was already done.

Fortunately, we had multiple offers on our house and sold for our asking price 3 weeks after it went up for sale. Since then the real estate market has continued to tumble....we were very lucky to sell our house when we did and for the price we did.

I guess I have a bit of a different perspective on upgrading than some. The big thing is - we could afford to do so and wanted to - we would have never gone into debt to do all those upgrades. I look at the whole experience as a very positive one.

I think you're doing the right thing. When you do any upgrades or improvements, you should do what you want, and with the budget that you have. Keeping in mind resale value, I would try to stay in the range of what the style, age, and neighborhood of the house is. Everyone has different taste and style, and what one person may find perfect, someone else will think it's dreadful. You can't decorate for the masses, but if you go with classic and neutral, using good quality materials and proper installation, at least you have a better shot.

My only concern is that you say you're not very handy. If a DIY project is beyond your abilities, then save up and have it professionally done. We bought a house that was owned by DIY-ers, but they didn't really know what they were doing, so we've had to pay for plumbers, electricians, etc. to undo some of their good intentions.

When we were house shopping, we had looked at a listing for a wonderful 1940's farmhouse, that looked like it had most of the original fixtures and hardware. It needed a little TLC, but was just so charming. Anyway, never got around to seeing the house in person, and the listing was taken down. Sure enough, house was relisted about 4 months later with a BRAND! NEW! kitchen and bath. It was horrible...they had ripped out the original everything, and replaced it with brand new junk from Home Depot...in a Southwestern theme. OMG...Imagine the pink and teal tile backsplash, brand new laminate cabinets, and a sleek new stainless sink.

I was just sick. It could have been preserved or restored back to it's original glory with some thoughtful care, but instead, and I'm sure at the insistance of a *spits* realtor, it was eviscerated and turned into a tacky showplace of new and shiny garbage. I'm still sad for that house.

Hi Everyone! Thanks for your input! I would love nothing more than to install granite and do fancy upgrades, but it isn't in my budget. So, I am trying to keep costs down and make the house look nice.... and not dated.

With my sister and soon to be ex-brother-in-laws help, I have replace an ugly shelf above the fireplace with a nice mantle picked up on craigs list. He also helped replace most of the light fixtures and all of the faucets throughout the house. These small changes have made a big difference.

I do not try to tackle a project beyond my abilities. For instance, I feel confident replacing an existing lighting fixture, but not running wiring for additional lighting. Most of the lighting has been replaced now except the 4 four-foot long flourecent fixtures. I haven't changed out these because they do a great job of lighting up the whole kitchen. They just aren't very aesthetically pleasing.

I'm pretty good at painting, so I'm thinking that I will add some molding to the kitchen cabinets and paint them with either cabinet coat or fine paints of europe. I've never done molding, but the kitchen is somewhat galley style, so there are no corners or anything difficult. I'll also replace the hardware. I would also like to try one of Fine Paints of Europe Dutch Door kits for the front door.

Both bathrooms have almond colored tubs and toilets. Is almond dated? Do you think it would be ok to keep if it is in good condition? They are in good condition and so is the matching tile. The previous owners replaced the double vanity in the master bath, but kept the original molded sink counter top. It looks better with upgraded faucets, so I may leave that as is.

As far as the main bathroom, the tub, tile and toilet are in great condition (Almond color). However, the vanity is a disaster. The cabinet is in terrible condition and it is low like for children. This project will require some skilled help, because if I go with a higher countertop, the plumbing connections will need to be lengthened to meet the higher sink.

Talking with my BIL and another realtor ... CLEAN SELLS.

Anything way fancier than the rest of the neighborhood is unlikely to sell at a price that repays the cost of the over-improvements.

Instead of "improving", the money is in removing the negatives, such as the falling-down fence and aged appliances. A few weeks and $100 in materials to get a kitchen clean and fresh will pay for itself by removing a negative.

We've replaced the moldy aged bath surround with a new tub and tile, new toilets and sinks, fresh paint ... Home Depot stuff, good quality but budget priced. At the advice of both realtors, we're not going to do more than repaint the kitchen and restain the cabinets ... it's usable as-is, and we'd be making a very expensive guess about what buyers will look for.

$1400 to have the popcorn professionally removed will be recovered because the house will sell faster with the "clean" look instead of dingy 1980s drywall, and sell for a higher price.

I agree..."CLEAN" does sell. Something as simple as replacing worn out carpeting and linoleum, counter tops, painting cabinets and only replacing appliances if they don't work is all you need. A fresh coat of paint helps too. Certainly don't go top end and you usually only get a return on kitchen and bath upgrades. Sometimes a resurface is all you need on a tub or shower. Inspectors may require new roofing, so do anything you can to keep costs low, colors neutral and styles simple if you plan on eventually moving.

Staging an empty house with only a couple of chairs here and there and complementary towels and decor in the kitchen & bathroom is the best. Your interior will look better if you can move your furniture out to storage while you try to sell, since most people want to try to think about what their furniture will look like in the home.

In this market, your neighbor won't make much back on her expensive investment, but she may live there longer than you do. You are the smart one!!!!

Thanks for the ideas lazygardens. A lot of the improvements that I am making are to update things that would impede a sale when that day finally comes.

When I bought the house in 2004, I had been looking for that "special" house for a year. You know, the one that you walk into and just know that it is the right house. I never found it, but prices were starting to slowly but steadily climb. Also, everytime I placed an offer, I was outbid. So I bought this house. I wasn't in love with it, but it is a nice house in a decent neighborhood. A bit too big for one gal. If I had waited, I never would have been able to afford to buy! Fortunately it is worth more than I paid, so I got in soon enough to not lose $.

So now, I am just biding my time and slowly repairing/updating as I go along. Someday I will sell and buy something else, but who knows... I could be here a while.

I think that the neighbor who keeps telling me that I need the expensive remodels is planning to stay in her home forever. So she has a very different goal than me. Also, she has a husband who works in construction who is doing almost everything himself. I would have to pay someone. I will stick to my plan of improving as necessary and keep in mind that I plan to sell someday.

Is the color almond outdated for baths and toilets? I know most people now prefer white. I would like to keep mine as they are in great shape.

Maybe I will go to the library and check out books on prepping/staging homes for sale and use them as a blueprint for my projects.

It sounds like you're doing everything right. I have no idea if almond fixtures are outdated or not, but it's still much better than a color...like blue. We looked at a house that had a different color tub and toilet in each bathroom. Pink, blue, and green. Oh my! The house we bought had one of those victorian water-closet looking toilets in the master. Wooden tank and seat, brass pull chain to flush, the whole works. Thank G*d it was broken, so we could rip it out and put in plain white porcelain. Anyway, if they're in good condition, I'd leave them alone.

And ditto that on clean being a huge selling factor. We looked at houses that were so filthy, I'd walk in, see the dirt and sometimes even dog poo on the floor, and walk right out. Same thing for obvious damage. Especially if it's from a much bigger problem. Like, sagging sheetrock from the roof leaks. Turned right around on that one, too.

When we saw this house, the grass was freshly trimmed, it had neutral tile throughout most of the house, and a fresh coat of cream colored wall paint. That was a HUGE selling factor. We still had to do a lot of repairs, and we're continuing to upgrade and restyle some things, but the fact that it was reasonably clean and fresh and mostly move-in ready is what sold us.

I think you're on the right track - make effective upgrades without straining your budget or going overboard. Is your neighbor so insistent because she wants to justify what she spent by having you do the same thing?

There was an old post where someone did an absolutely stunning job on their bathroom with an avocado green toilet & sink. Sorry I can't find it but maybe someone else can locate it & link it for you. If she could make that color work, you should be good with almond. If the fixtures are clean & in good condition than you should keep them. You can really do alot with paint & decor.

Good luck, stay sensible and be sure to show us pictures as you go along.

I agree...clean sells. We sold an older home a couple of years ago that was a rental for a long time. One thing we think made a HUGE difference was new door hardware...knobs and hinges. You know how they get painted over and gross? Another thing was new light switches. We painted everything, put in a new laminate counter...Mostly clean made all the difference in what would be considered a "starter" home. I think we sold it in a month, for pretty much what we were asking.

Beth P.

Our home is in an older neighborhood, but there are some newer homes, but they're of the lower end in the price range for our area. The older homes actually have a higher price tag, primarily because they're bigger and have large lots.

That said, our home was very dated when we bought it, but the bones were amazing. So we've updated everything and I just finished a mini reno in the kitchen. I do not have granite & SS, because that is overkill in my neighborhood. If I were to put in a $50K kitchen, we'd NEVER recoup that. Our house is one of the nicest in our neighborhood thanks to a lot of our little touches, and we're not planning to sell for a loooong time. But when we do, it'll be a comfortable home in line with the neighborhood, not aspiring to be something it can't be.

"On the other hand, there are people who would rather upgrade to their own taste and would not like to pay for someone else's upgrades. HGTV acts as if this type of buyer does not exist."

It's not just HGTV--our realtor couldn't really believe the list of things I did not care about or want to pay for. Even after our offer was accepted, she kept checking to make sure, and after we moved in she emailed again to see if I had buyer's remorse yet!

I can't believe I'm the only person in the world satisfied with small bathrooms--after all, the whole neighborhood was built with them, and there ARE people living in all these houses, poor, hemmed-in souls that we are.

When I was selling my previous house, I fixed what was broken and made sure things were super clean and as "staged" as they could be with all my kids and dogs, and my house sold before any of the three upgraded with granite and stainless homes for sale on my street and the adjacent two streets. I could price my laminate and white appliance house lower because I hadn't spent for upgrades, but I have no idea if the lower price is what sold it, or if it was something else.

It's easy to say you're on the right track and the woman you're referring to is over improving her home. However its really dependent on your location and what the market in your area is doing. I wouldn't worry about what upgrades the lady next door has or what improvements the homes she's been in have. To be honest, most people who improve their homes like that are most likely in their property for the long term and have no intention of selling. What you should be interested in is what the past 6 month sales history in your neighborhood is and what is currently on the market. If you look up your area on Realtor.com you can get some idea of what's listed and a lot of the listings will have pictures of the interiors. I work with foreclosures and short sales every day. Most of the properties I see are either:

1. very large high end homes that are fully upgraded and their executive owner was transferred or lost his/her job or business

2. newer cookie cutter homes with builder grade interiors that were bought by people who couldn't afford them and/or had funky builder financing that they didn't understand.

3. older homes with a good amount of deferred maintenance and/or NO updates. Fixer uppers.

4. just recently, I'm seeing more flips that investors bought, refurbished and could not get resold. These are typically homes that attract first time buyers, new investors to use as rentals or fix income families.

Again, it really depends on YOUR neighborhood. If you are planning on selling within the next 2-3 years and you want to be sure to get as much return on your investment as possible, call a Realtor who knows your neighborhood. He/she will be happy to help you figure out a plan that will bring you the best results.

And I also agree about the HGTV crowd. There are many people, myself included, that actually don't like stainless appliances and many of the other current hot trends. Maybe I was just born an old lady, but if I had a choice, I'd most always pick white porcelain.

We have a hideous (to us) master bath. In addition to the "unique" loo, we have floor to ceiling stained beadboard, that's installed at a diagonal. Each wall has a different angle, and it's all trimmed out with thick, heavy plain trim. We even have a wooden topped vanity. Ew. A massive jetted garden tub tops it all off. We hate it. It's dark, claustrophobic, and makes me dizzy. The tub is difficult to get into and out of, and is a huge pain to clean. Our realtor walked in that room and just swooned about how elegant and wonderful it all was. I pray for the day when we can rip it all out. And I'm sure the PO's spent a lot of time and money making that the showplace of the house.

She might be over improving her home but I don't think it's necessarily the wrong thing for her to do. If she is planning on living there for many more years and can comfortably afford to update it then I don't see the problem. She probably won't be able to sell it for what she put in it but in the meantime she's enjoying it.

Her improvements are wonderful and she does intend to retire in her home. Therefore, it was the right decision for her. No argument there. I would do it too if I could afford it and was planning on staying. But, she keeps telling me that I need to do the same kind of upgrades or I will devalue my home.

Since, I don't plan to stay long-term, I'm trying to figure out how far I should take my remodeling/upgrading for my situation and budget. Our situations are different.

Hi! Interesting post and thoughts so far. We have built and sold a number of homes. We had some nice features in our previous home, including wood floors, a hickory ceiling, a beautiful floor-to-ceiling fireplace, and hefty trim, etc. Our side yard was accented by an attractive, curved retaining wall, and we landscaped everything nicely.

But, you know what? When it came time to sell and for a real estate appraisal, our home's selling price was based on what other properties in the area of similar square footage were selling for, first and foremost. Now, having a great looking interior/exterior helped the house rank above its competitors on the market, but as some have already mentioned, not every investment will necessarily pay for itself later on resale.

I'm sure we'd never recoup everything we've spent on improving our current home, but we plan to stay here, so we're doing it for ourselves.

I think your approach of keeping things clean and updated and within your budget is smart.

Jan

I'm one who wouldn't want SS appliances. white maybe - prefer bisque - or almond. Since the bathroom fixtures are in good condition etc I'd keep them. Make sure it's all up to snuff tho. redo that one vanity. maybe add new tp holder, towel rack, other decorations. put in a new fan if needed.

in the kitchen - check out newer florescent lighting fixtures at HD or lowe's. if the one there is from the 70's or 80's, they have more up to date ones out there now. wouldn't be hard to change out and they run about 75 -100.00. if the counter top is rather old, change it to one of the new laminates. they really are much better than a decade or 2 ago. with straight/galley type set up it should be easy enough and not very expensive. it will give it a great update without lots of money. I'd rather pick out my own granite if I wanted it so if someone spent a lot of money putting it in just before i bought a house I wouldn't be thrilled to be paying for it in the price of the house.

It sounds like you are on the right path for you. spiffy it up - maybe moulding, baseboards (if tacky), weather stripping, screens, windows, doors. in the kitchen painting and a hardware change can make the world of difference.

If you don't move for a few yrs, you can enojoy the updates you've done to it!

Oh! I forgot until I just read it above....when we re-did the condo the change to nicer baseboards and door & window trim made a HUGE difference. I thought "uh-oh, is that all it needed and yet I'm renovating the whole place?"

I did not DIY the job so I don't know how much work that is but it was a great improvement. Something to add to your list, your ever growing list.

And about your almond baths...the companion color is what can make it work. I think almond can look quite sophisticated with a good sky blue with a little gray and a little green in it.

I sold my condo in CA 2 years ago when the market was horrific! I had already updated light fixtures, added wood flooring to the downstairs living area(LR,DR,kitchen/eating area, small sitting room off kitchen, and powder room, and painted the old Oak cabs white. I also had wallpaper which was very taste specific, so scraped it off and painted the whole condo a nice warm tan. Got a new dishwasher, and did Granite Tranformations in the kitchen(was told the cabinets would fall apart if tile was removed). There were other units similar to mine on the market, but very few upgrades. I also didn't want to price myself right out of the market or the area. Long story short, I had 5 offer, and finally got the price I wanted w/the fifth one, selling in exactly 3 months and it was Christmas.

Don't go over the top for your location. Cosmetic changes will help sell, but buyers know the ball is in their court, and can possibly buy low enough to make their own choices. ;o)

The day that I found this house, I had looked at another house in the same neighborhood. The house was cluttered and seemed to be bursting at the seams. I remember opening the cabinet under the bathroom sink and it was crammed with stuff all the way up to the bottom of the sink.

Then, we drove over to what would become my house. These people had been transferred and needed to sell fast, but knew that the market was crazy hot, so they were not willing to negotiate on price.

When I looked around the house, it was not crowded with furniture and stuff. I opened the linen closet and it was practically bare. There were a couple of bath towels and some dish towels for the kitchen. There wasn't an extra sheet or blanket to be found. Most of the shelves were empty. It was the same with the kitchen pantry. The garage had a few suitcases and the minimum lawn equipment to maintain the place. Nothing else. The kitchen cabinets and drawers had just the bare essentials. Maybe 6 utensils in one drawer max.

I knew when I was looking at it that they had packed everything up and put stuff into storage. The house was clean and orderly and showed great. Even knowing they were staging for sale and that it didn't really have more storage than the other place, I bought the house hook line and sinker.

When the time comes, I will do the same.

I know I gave advice to the contrary, but I am one of those people who overimprove, but I do it to please myself.

I have a Sub-Zero in a complex of apartment-grade Whirlpools, custom doors and millwork in the land of whatever was cheapest at Home Depot, restored ornamental plaster where patch it with drywall is the norm.

However...I bought at a low point in the market, and I bought less than I could afford. When it comes time to sell, I just won't Lose money, but I won't make the return that the Whirlpool, Home Depot crowd will. I may sell sooner than my neighbor, but not significantly higher, because of my upgrades. The price will be based on neighborhood/complex comps (sq foot, # BR, baths). They aren't comps, really , but the quality level will be disregarded. However, I get to enjoy it as long as I live here.

I'm one of those weirdos (and I know I'm not the only one) that didn't actually want granite when we were house-hunting last year. I wasn't going to tear granite out but I really dislike the look of it. I much prefer butcher-block (which we installed after ripping out the old laminate). But knew I wasn't going to remove expensive granite if it was already installed.

I think that even granite is taste specific. There are a lot of granite choices that I don't like. I would rather buy a home with laminate countertops that I don't like - that I could replace with a granite of my choice than buy one with granite that I don't like already installed. It would be harder to justify removing new granite. Just because it's granite, not everyone will like it!

At one time, I lived in a house with terrazo floors. They were all the rage at one time then became a real eyesore. Some of the granites with busy patterns remind me of that flooring.