Posting pix would help.... You want the most bang for your buck and you also want to enjoy what you update while you are there. 5 year plans have a tendency to change, so you want to enjoy the house and also not over-improve it in case your time is shorter. You also don't want to wait 5 years to start liking where you live more....

Well, if you are happy, I don't see why I'd change anything. I've always thought, though, that it is practically tragic to wait to do improvements people would really LIKE until just before they sell. Even before selling, I think it's important to be pretty careful about how much to invest and what you are actually going to see back out. I was told that it takes 3-5 years for a remodel to pay for itself and it's unrealistic to expect to get it all back. In some cases, it just makes more sense to sell it as is with some freshening up and let the buyers decide what they want to do.

We're in the same boat. We gutted our entire house except for the kitchen and now I'm starting to wonder if we should do it next but except for the lack of stainless and granite countertops, it's in good shape. We have spent over $30K in renovations to our home, and now we have decided not to do any more improvements because we know we won't see any returns when we sell in the next 3-5 years. You may want to have a realtor or appraisor come through your home and provide their input - that's what we have done and that has certainly helped us put things in perspective regarding whether or not we should do any more improvements.

If you are certain you will need to update it to sell it in 5 years, and if the area your home is in seems to dictate that it will need a surface other than the laminate it's currently got, then by all means change it now and enjoy it because it will still look fabulous in 5 years when you sell it, and since you're hanging around gw you're probably going to catch the early part of a trend rather than the tail end, which will mean it will still look great in 5 years style-wise.

Go for it, and enjoy it now. You might find that it moves you from rarely cooking to cooking a bit more -- and that saves money -- one more reason to just do it! :-)

Do it now! As I realtor, one regret I heard from sellers all the time is "I wish we had done xxx sooner". People update or paint or do this or that just to get their house ready for the market and really enjoy it themselves but hardly get to enjoy it b/c their house (hopefully) sells quickly. So yes, do it NOW so you get to enjoy it and not be yet another person saying "I wish I had updated the kitchen 5 years ago, instead of 2 months ago. I never got to enjoy it." I also think kris_ma is right - at GW you will be on the early side of a trend and it should last through the time you want to sell.

If it were me, I'd wait another 2 or 3 years to update the kitchen, and then do it in the winter when contractors are less busy and less expensive.

I am on a similar timeline -- might or probably will move in 4-5 years. My house is old and needed updates and I knew some updates would really help the sale no matter when it is. And so, this summer I refinished all the floors and had bookcases built into the living room and dining room. I also had the first floor and upstairs hall painted, and replaced the light fixture in the upstairs hall. The work was done while my daughter and I were on vacation and the reveal (when we came home) was tv worthy! The house looks great and we are enjoying it now. These are renovations that I saw when I looked at the house 4 years ago, and although I could have passed them on to the next owner, I figured I would not wait for the person with imagination.

This was a $12,000 update, and I could afford that. If it had been $50,000, it would not have gotten done. IMHO, I'd go for the renovations if you can afford it and if it would bring you pleasure to have them done.

G'luck
Suzanne

I'm with NewSouthernBelle on this one. We updated our kitchen about 6 years ago. Since I had found GW while doing my kitchen research, I got the bug for granite counters, fancy faucets, etc. My contractor at the time looked at me like I was nuts since granite was only going in high-end homes at the time (and neither my home or neighborhood are high end). But we weren't planning to move, so I got my granite counters, etc. (I didn't skimp but didn't go overboard either) and I have loved my kitchen for the past 6 years!

Now we are planning on purchasing my MIL's home something we had never thought of doing until just recently due to some circumstances with MIL. Our realtor has commented on how really pretty our house is and how our home is one of the nicest refurbished homes in the area. Saying that my kitchen/living room will really be a selling point.

So now I have enjoyed a nice kitchen for the past 6 years (which did inspire me to cook more!), and I now have a nicely updated house to put on the market. Now hopefully it won't take a year to sell in this crappy real estate market!!

Personally, I would check with realestate agents in your area to make certain upgrading your kitchen would have a positive impact. You do not want to over improve. Additionally, if you improve your kitchen, how will that impact the overall look of the house? For example, what do your bathrooms look like? If they are consistent with the kitchen now, will improving the kitchen look out of place or make the bathrooms now look like they require improvement? From your description, it doesn't sound like having a basic kitchen bothers you personally, so it sounds like this is mostly a resale question. Obviously if updating the kitchen has a positive impact on the price or ability to sell your home, it would be nice to enjoy it over the next few years rather than improving it immediately before you sell. But, from what you describe, improving the kitchen is not on the to of your list of desires, so unless it's important for selling your home, you could use that money for something that's more enjoyable for you.

If you are in a typical suburban track home, anything to set it above and apart from your direct competetion will help.
If you have a special real estate, ie water front, view, close-in city location etc, then it's the location that sells first then the house. Depending on the neighborhood, the buyer will tear it all out any rate. In those circumstances, it probably will be better to lower the price, sell fast, and put the money in the next house.

I would make sure updating will add value or be needed to keep up with the market in your area, and if so, I'd be inclined to do it now -- just don't overdo it, and enjoy it. DH and I have both had experiences with either not getting around to things we wished we'd done or doing them when it's time to sell and wishing we'd enjoyed them. Life situations don't always allow you the choice, but if they do, enjoy the fruits of your labor and expense if you can.

I would not assume though that contractors will be less busy during the winter season. Seems like folks here are always pushing to get work done for the holidays and guests and then it picks up again after the holidays. The contractors don't work much between Thanksgiving and New Years unless it's a push and they are motivated anyway. Add to that the tornadoes this spring, the flooding and other storm damage more recently, the fires here in TX and near by -- there's going to be a lot of rebuilding year round for at least a year or two -- and any other events could keep pushing that out further. There are some things you just can't predict or control, so don't count on them.

We're on a similar timeline and did our kitchen sooner rather than later so that we could enjoy it. But we also started with a kitchen that I was really unhappy with and that was barely functional from a layout and modern convenience perspective---doesn't sound like that's your case at all. I'd make sure the improvements you do will bring the kitchen up to comparable kitchens, though---the worst thing the previous owner of our house did was to give the kitchen a facelift---new granite counters, new sink, new faucet and backplash, new paint for the cabinets---without correcting the very basic problems with the layout, inability to accommodate a dishwasher, structurally failing 75-year-old cabinetry, etc. It was really frustrating, and in retrospect I would much have preferred the old kitchen with an allowance for upgrades that we could have applied to the remodel. (From a real estate perspective, though, I'm sure it "showed well.") We ended up gutting the space three years later, so it was a real waste---the salvage team could only save a few things.

I will say that the one thing we are already beginning to contemplate that wasn't in the mix when we started our project was the possibility that we will end up renting our house instead of selling it. The market where we are had started to turn around when we started design of the new kitchen, but is now pretty stagnant again, and if we had to move today, we'd rent the house instead of selling because the rental market is way up right now so we could cover costs with rent, but would lose money on the sale. Hopefully that will have changed in five years when we look start looking seriously at moving, but if it hasn't, there are a few things I may regret in the remodel (specifically our counters, which are soapstone and probably not the best choice for a rental). So if you might be in that situation, it could be a reason to wait and see before investing significantly in the space. Good luck!

I should probably mention that we live in the smallest house in a nice neighborhood. We may be the only ones who still have laminate, or who ever had laminate. I need to do something with the shower in our bathroom, too. Right now it's a fiberglass stall with sliding glass doors, and I really should go for tile. I don't have an unlimited budget, so each room, kitchen and bath, will have to get a modest amount of work.

A lot can happen in 2 or 3 years from all aspects in your life. If, in 2 or 3 years, you are still on track to sell in 2016, then doing the rehab in 2013 or 2014 will still give you some years to enjoy it but not enough time for it to become outdated, grungy, etc. My humble 2 cents.

Do you think that the next people will expand your house? If so, I'd do little. We bought our house with its ugly kitchen and bad roof, knowing we'd be extending out. We would not want to have paid more to get a new roof and nicer small kitchen when we knew we'd be ripping it out.

It sounds like you have the right idea when you say you want to do a modest amount of work. Fresh paint and new hardware can do a lot to freshen up. If you really want new counters, then get them. Otherwise, let the new people get their own choice and let them pay for it. You say you rarely cook, and laminate is fine for cooking on anyway. If you really love a modestly priced granite, then go for it. That is, assuming your cabs are in good shape and 5 years from now are worth keeping. If you went with builder basic, you may find the buyers will be thinking they have to rip out everything at that point. I'd hate to see you spend the money and get to use them for only a few years and not get any financial appreciation from future buyers.

If the appliances don't work, replace them, otherwise, save your money. You may want a nicer faucet because that should not cost huge and can affect the look. Ditto for the light fixtures and window treatments. Those are more about style, so if your current ones look good, then leave them alone.

Post some pix so you can get more accurate advice. Your kitchen could be just fine or looking shabby. It is hard to day without seeing.

I disagree with PPCactus. If the kitchen is updated but the baths aren't, a buyer isn't going to reject your house. On the contrary, most buyers would love to have an updated kitchen. Sure it's great if the both the baths and the kitchen are updated but updating one or the other is certainly better than not doing either. I'd say do the kitchen now and then in another 2-3 years, update the baths. You probably spend more time in the kitchen than the bath so you'll get more enjoyment out of it while you live there.

If you're going to update either way, do it now and enjoy it! You'll be in the house for 17 years, the last 5 of which you had a beautiful kitchen that--although you don't cook much--was a pleasant focal point, rather than just a so-so part of an open floor plan.

Go with simple, classic finishes and colors, and you don't have to worry about what's in style 5 years from now.

I'm finally getting over my guilt, and removing my builder's countertops in order to replacing them with marble that I've wanted for 10 years. We only have about 5 more years in this house, too, and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

Life is short! If you're going to do it anyway, and you can do it within your budget, do it now so you can enjoy it. It's impossible to predict what "the" potential buyer will even want, anyway. An updated kitchen can't hurt.