Where are you located?

given the 2 choices you put forth, i'd go with your plan, upgrade, enjoy the new HVAC, but not blowing the big bucks on something you won't use for a long time..

We live in the North Dallas suburbs. You can get a lot of house for the money here. Our neighborhood is not bad, but it is aging and some of the homes are not kept up quite as well as I would like.

I would bet that at least 2/3s of the homes have updated air/heat systems.

We are also planning to replace our countertops in the bathrooms and are wondering what we should get.

I'd do your plan too!
As far as countertops, just the other day I was listening to radio, some home show, (I think it was Christopher Lloyd) and they had a woman on who is a decorator, writes books,but sorry, I forget her name.
She said one thing (of several) things NOT to do was to use granite in the bathroom countertops! Her thinking is granite is too over the top in a bathroom, which should focus on simpicity, adequate lighting, and for heaven's sake, storage!

happyladi - I think it would be worth getting a new system, but not get the top of the line. Get one for what makes sense for your neighborhood. Most likely it will be a flag in the inspection if you don't so like you said you might as well enjoy it. Yours is also at the end of its life so it is possible it could break when you least want it to (100 degree weather).

For countertops in the bath. What do you have now? I would think just regular white cultured marble would be a good choice for your style home. Durable, neutral, and easy to care for and don't cost a bundle. It is also something that wouldn't be out of place in your area or considered an over improvement.

I vote for a new HVAC system as wellÂÂ.as chances are, the current one is already or about to go beyond its expected life span. Buyers love new or newer HVACÂÂas not only are they more efficient in terms of utility cost...but they know that an HVAC system is one large nut that they won't need to crack for quite some time to come.

Keep all paperwork documenting date of purchase, etc...and use as a selling feature.

As far as the countertops go...many of the DYI stores such as Lowes offer prefab standard quality granite vanity tops for a very reasonable cost....

...since your home is more of a starter home, IMO, such a feature would be appreciated by "starter" buyers...a very large bang for a relatively small buck...and will also serve to make you home stand out a bit over the others at sale time...

Most starter home buyers won't be impressed by a new HVAC. They just expect there will be one. Cultured marble should be just fine for the vanities. It's amazing what new tops, new paint (no wallpaper!) and new light fixtures will do to perk up a bathroom.

Talk to a realtor who knows your area before you start renovating anything. I was going to tile our kitchen and back hall until a neighbor who was also a realtor said our houses didn't warrant it; we replaced lino with same. Our all-new windows were also of no value when we sold. In fact...although it brought top dollar for our neighborhood, our starter home became a virtual teardown. The buyer really wanted the lot and the school district!

We bought our current house in July. It has old mechanicals--water heater, CA unit, and furnace are all at least 15 years old. The water gets hot faster in our house than it has anywhere else we've lived so I'd say the old heater is still working just fine. Our highest cooling bill this summer was $130 (for a two-level 2600SF house and we like it COOL), so I'd say the CA unit is still working fine too. We haven't had to run the heat much yet this year, but I'm betting the furnace works fine too. My point? Why fix what isn't broken, especially when the old is not costing you a lot of money? We knew the mechanicals were old before we made the offer and priced our offer accordingly. We have a house maintenance fund and will pull from that when these old mechanicals die. If this market continues, I'm not sure you'd recoup your investment. I'd think long and hard and talk to a realtor before putting any money into a house I'd planned to sell in the next 2-3 years. If you do buy new, I'd go with a less expensive system. No point in overkill knowing you likely will not recoup the money.

Thanks everyone. I do worry about the system we have now going out, though it does work alright. It is not very efficient but our bills are not terribly high.

The bathroom counters need to be replaced because they are discolored around the drains and the master has a chip, though that could probably be fixed. They are off white cultured marble now. Unfortunately the size and placement of the sink/s don't allow us to get premade countertops, we will have to get custom.

We have updated the baths some, new paint, and we replaced the floor with a faux travertine porcelain tile.

If you're replacing the countertop, you'll probably also replace the sink and faucet, right? Depending on the configuration of your cabinets and the location of the sink drain, you may be able to move your sink by several inches. Would this allow you to get premade countertops?

Limoncello, The way the cabinets are it would look odd to move the sinks. In fact, I don't think it can be done without redoing the cabinets. In the main bathroom the sink is off to one side. In the master, the countertop is so long that it is not a standard size. We have replaced the faucet in the main bath but will replace them in the master, also.

Excellent post, logic. I agree with every point that you made.

I have been and still am a starter home market buyer.

In addition to the general style of house, lot, neighborhood - I look at the high ticket items first. If NONE have been upgraded -- roof, electric, furnace/air, windows -- the house better be dirt cheap so I can afford to take care of it when it goes - usually after someone new moves in:)

I think overimproving and pricing yourself out of the market though is certainly a valid point and concern.
Find some compromise that you'd be happy with should you stay in the house longer (you never know what life will through at you requiring changes to plans). So your plan sounds good really. Is hubby handy? DIY attic insulation is physically demanding but not "hard" as in requiring lots of expensive tools or skills. And its not that expensive DIY. The shiny aluminum tape on the duct joints - your set.
As for the bathroom counters - you should be able to take the cultured marble out and replace with a regular sink and formica right? There's lots of really nice formica out there now, some is in sort of pre-done chunks you can buy at big box stores and modify yourself if your handy.

I was speaking of *ordinary* first-home buyers, not the savvy group here!LOL I was quite surprised when our neighbor/realtor told me that new buyers just expect that a house will have some kind of heating and A/C and aren't impressed by energy-efficient windows. The majority ARE inpressed by the gew-gaws like countertops and SS appliances. I've known people to fall in love with houses becuase the like the seller's decorating style -- big let-down when they move into the bare house.

It would be worth it to upgrade your system now. It does not have to be the top of the line. Middle of the road is fine.

As you stated, you would be able to enjoy the benefits of a more efficient system right now.

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT

I also agree with logic - especially here in DFW where AC is probably the most important system. You will surely sell your home faster than an identical home with an old system, so you might as well enjoy a couple of years of savings...

I actually called yesterday on an ad for a 3 ton 16 SEER Amana system with lifetime replacement and 10 year parts AND labor for $3900 (can't remember if it was from EAS or MES - it was in my mail ads)! The guy said it was a complete electric heat and cooling system, but I need gas which is a few hundred more. This is definitely the time of year in Texas to get an A/C - Do it!

Yes, we use AC here from April through September. This year we even used it some in October. We will need to replace our electric heating system, also. The one we have now is resistance heat and we would go to a heat pump. There is no gas line to my house.

We priced cultured marble counters yesterday at Home Depost just to get an idea of price. For the master it would be about $300.00 plus the faucets. For Silestone, which we have in the kitchen, it would be about $600 to $700 plus the cost of two undermount sinks and two faucets. It might be worth it to get Silestone since it certainly is a more WOW look. Even in lower priced homes people like nice kitchens and baths. What do you think?

In the last house I sold I had recently installed a 16 SEER AC, a new high efficiency boiler (hot water heat), new windows and I had re-insulated the attic. A few house hunters probably weren't impressed, but the savvy ones were. One of them told me that because I had gone first class on the AC and boiler, he knew that I had probably taken good care of the rest of the house too.

Don't do HD for granite - there are tons of granite companies here that will give you a better deal (HD just hires one of them, and takes a cut). I say go with what YOU want in the bath since you have a couple of years to enjoy it. You may not get much more (but certainly "some" more), but you should sell quicker. Check the HVAC forum here for your questions on ACs - a lot of info in there...

Yes, we use AC here from April through September. This year we even used it some in October. We will need to replace our electric heating system, also. The one we have now is resistance heat and we would go to a heat pump. There is no gas line to my house.

Well that stinks. I would call the gas company to see if they have any plans to bring it to your area. At my last house we had electric heat which was a big turn off, we immediately changed it in the spring adding central air.

We just replaced our gas furnace 2 weeks ago. The whole job was around $5,000. We called a few places, it was ranging up to $7,000. Be sure to look in the phone book to see if there are any coupons, also call the electric company to see what they offer.

We priced cultured marble counters yesterday at Home Depot just to get an idea of price. For the master it would be about $300.00 plus the faucets. For Silestone, which we have in the kitchen, it would be about $600 to $700 plus the cost of two undermount sinks and two faucets. It might be worth it to get Silestone since it certainly is a more WOW look. Even in lower priced homes people like nice kitchens and baths. What do you think?

We just did custom counters in the bath & kitchen, the price you got sounds good. Pretty sure it cost us about $3,000 total, we didn't get anything fancy.

There are no plans to put gas lines in. There is gas about 3 houses down and we could have gas brought up but it would be expensive. Most people just put in heat pumps. The heating season isn't that bad here, even in the worst of the winter the normal high is in the mid 50's and often it is warmer then that.