It really depends upon your comps and your competition. Look at recent sales and homes that are currently active and that will give you a good feel for what your home is worth.

Agree with nc. Check the homes that are comparable to your house that have sold. That will give you a truer idea of what it will sell for. Never heard of a fixed percentage added on for upgrades. Potential buyers may not like the upgrades that have been done, so there goes the percentage out the window. NancyLouise

There are also some types of upgrades one does when building that are not really considered upgrades when one sells. For example, you might have paid to put on a better roof, use better windows, or upgrade cabinets. Those kinds of upgrades don't really translate into dollars at sales time. What builder upgrades often do is make the house more marketable and benefit you while you live in the home.

An upgrade that significantly changes the structure like adding a basement or a third car bay will impact the selling price. Those kinds of upgrades are taken into account when using comps to determine an asking price. Typically it isn't a %age increase that is used to determine the difference between the value of a house with a basement versus one without a basement or the third car bay. It's often a dollar amount based on comps.

Agree, not everyone is going to value the upgrades, or value them enough to pay extra though they are likely to get some attention.

It's all about the comps. If everyone in your comp category has the same "upgrade" then they are not really upgrades.

Good luck!

The advice I have seen here has been that upgrades may help you sell faster but most buyers are not willing to pay a premium for them. On the flip side, if your expensive upgrades are a very specific taste or are unusual they may detract from the value of your home.

The fact that you might not get the cost of your upgrades back during the sale might be depressing but remember that you did enjoy them while you were living in the house.

What are you planning to add this % to, how do you know sold comps don't have similar "upgrades"? Talk to several local agents, get their opinion of your list price after a review of your local market.

Ten years ago we had an appraisal on a house with a newly installed geo-thermal heating and air conditioning system. On the appraiser's work sheet they'd checked "central heat and air" without any notation on the type of system. I pointed that out and was told it didn't matter.

We are also in the same situation -our home was completely rebuilt( renovated) inside on all the floors 6 years ago wilth hardwood floors, tall cabinets, steel appliances, granite counter tops etc etc and the realtor says comps and square footage are the only things that matter.

They dont add to the bottom line what a rude awakening !!

/gasp!

I had a feeling the answers given were what I would 'hear'. Most of the homes in the neighborhood were built as spec homes, therefore builders grade ceramic tile flooring(not layed on the diagonal), no handscraped wood flooring, no upgraded SS appliances w/double ovens/deeper sinks, standard cabinets in kitchen/bathroom( higher 'footed' bathroom vanities), big box lighting, wood balastrades, standard white blinds, nickle hardware, standard front door, no walk-in closers, no arched doorways, and definitely not landscaped with many trees/ bushes/hardscape/extended flagstone patio.

I guess my only hope is a woman like myself, who on seeing a gorgeous, though very expensive handbag, has got to have it! We all know buying a home can be a very emotional experience. Hopefully if there is a woman involved in the buying process, she'll be ovulating, peri/post menopausal, pregnant, or tends to be on the emotional side normally! It could also be she wears the pants or can sweet talk a husband into anything! (I've got to give myself hope that these upgrades will seal the deal!!)

Weedyacres, I *don't* understand your comment.

JN3344, and yours completely escapes me.

Patty - I think Weedy is referring to the many HGTV shows where the hosts proclaim that adding x, y and z to your home will raise the value $xx,xxx. And I think JN made a tongue in cheek comment about being shocked that HGTV shows might exaggerate or mislead.

It's disappointing to learn that "upgrades" don't do much for the house overall, pricewise, that it entirely depends on the comps and that's it. My friends had a solar power unit installed on their roof, in addition to their home being almost double the square footage of most of the homes in the neighborhood due to an extra giant room added on (before they bought the home). But the feedback they keep getting from people who look at their house is that the kitchen is too small. No one cares about the versatile extra room (we live in small houses, that extra huge room is really nice), or the solar, or their very nicely maintained yard, or their amazing raised garden. Whatever the comps in that price range are, they offer something more that my friends home doesn't offer.

Deee_gw and melle_sacto, thanks for giving me your 4 cents! It will be such a downer if I have to sell my home for $40k less than I built it for. Lesson learned. ;(

patty_cakes42 - A good local real estate agent is the only one that can tell you with any certainty what your home and the upgrades are worth in your market. All our comments about the upgrades are pure speculation.

On the bright side, you were able to enjoy the upgrades during the past 7 years so I hope you will see that as a positive. Good luck!

Not all homes apreciate upwards either. Or at the same rate. Brand new homes are valued more than 7 year old homes. Even 7 year old homes with a few more amenities. If a couple is choosing between a brand new 325K home in a typical subdivision and a 7 year old 300K comp one in that same subdivision's earlier buildout, the new home will typicall sell faster, and for more money. Even though it may not have any of your upgrades, what it has is the idea of personalization. And that new car smell.

The 7 year old 300K upgraded home may sell faster than the 6 year old 300K without upgrades, but unless there was additional square footage added, it really won't sell for any more. It's located in a neighborhood of 300K homes, and no one will ever pay 350K for a home in a 300K neighborhood. Putting it up for sale for 360, hoping to get 350 just prolongs the agony of your DOM, and gets the home a reputation for being overpriced and with a difficult seller.

PattyCakes... if your home is indeed worth less than $40,000 less than you built it for according to your local comps, then you are over improved and built in the wrong neighborhood. You will sell for the highest price in the neighborhood by a little, but not enough to recoup the difference. Buyers do like to purchase the nicest home in the neighborhood, but they will not pay an inflated price as compared to other homes in the neighborhood that are more or less your comps.

You may be thinking of insurance valuations where they tend to use a cost per square foot based on quality of construction and upgrades. That is aimed more at cost to rebuild in case of a loss than on market value.

I would think that your landscaping and hardscaping (flagstone patio) may actually increase your sales value. Those are things buyers may add after buying and are add-ons rather than upgrades. The choices you made on decor are typically personal and don't increase value above the range of the neighborhood. They might put you in the upper end of that range, but not $40K above the rest.

A quick sale is worth money even if you are not making mortgage payments and being near your family and grandchildren is worth even more. Do the best you can for resale, but focus on the prize.

ETA: meant to say that if there are things you would want to take with you (appliances, light fixtures, etc.) you could switch those out for less expensive options and at least keep some of what you paid more for and obviously enjoy. Between some additional for landscape and hardscape, perhaps some for the interior upgrades and being able to reuse some of those choices, maybe it won't be such a large bite.

Patty_cakes -- to be honest, I think we have over-improved our home somewhat, as well. I always wanted to move to a nicer neighborhood and a 1600 - 1800 sq ft home. But it isn't going to happen in the foreseeable future, so we've gone ahead and made this home into a place we enjoy living. I do not expect our improvements to add much to the selling price, not based on what I see other less-nice (IMHO) homes sell for, but I do hope it will make it easier to sell if the time ever comes! I try not to see it as money down the drain, and it's nice that we went ahead and did these things so our house was MUCH more liveable (despite being kind of squishy).

I hope you will update with how things go, what an agent advises you, what kind of feedback you get from potential buyers. I love reading about this stuff!

Sorry, my comment was intended with sarcasm, as deee explained. :-)

lascatx writes -> "I would think that your landscaping and hardscaping (flagstone patio) may actually increase your sales value."

With the right buyer it might. I was disappointed when our extensive efforts at landscaping simply merited a check mark. The appraiser told me that a great deal of people are turned off by the maintenance required. Same thing with pools & ponds. He did tell me that we had a "$10,000 view".

In my area, realtors will tell you that pools don't add what they cost -- used to be a $10K differential for a pool that cost 3-5 times that, but that you will have a hard time selling a home without a pool in the warmer months.

I think gardens can go either way because of perceived maintenance issues, but trees and hardscape are generally plusses -- especially if the patio is nicely shown with furniture so that it is another living and entertaining area.

Wouldn't it depend on the "upgrades"?

Y'all are m making me feel better, even though I may have to bite the bullet and sell for less.

Nate, you are right on the money! When I moved to Tx, I thought this was going to be my 'forever home'....ha! But, my family is more important than any beautiful house! I'm actually on the outskirts of Austin where homevalues haven't appreciated as much. Schools are not great either, but that isn't important to everyone. There are homes in the mid $300's, a few years older, but more sq ft as well as new homes being built in the 3's, although the lots are a 1/4 of what mine is, w/o even a tree. It's a crapshoot! Me? I would pay for older w/upgrades, but that's me! ;)

Weedy, I get that. ;)

Lascatz, i'm in Tx, so the less grass the better, due to the heat which cause drought conditions yearly. I have a sprinkler system, so the trees/bushes are on a timer. I had grass removed from the largest portion of backyard, and replaced it with crushed granite. Maintenance is a piece of cake and the water bill a lot less. It's just a small front yard and sides that need mowing. AND, I WILL be taking the light fixtures. ;)

Nosoccermom, if you scroll up,you'll read about the upgrades. ;)

You know, sometimes it depends on finding the right buyer.

We bought our house at asking price, which was above the comps in the neighborhood, and many many thousands above its Zilllow estimate, although it did not have granite in the kitchen as some of the comparable homes did and the finishing inside was hideous compared to what we could have gotten if we moved further into the 'burbs.

What I noticed were the touches the homeowners did. They added high quality storm doors to both the front door and the garage entry. The landscaping around the house was obviously professionally done. The appliances were upgraded and a selling point. The basement remodel was freshly done and a good use of space. What was most important was the location, it was exactly where we wanted to be with enough space for every one of our needs. It is hard to find a house that is a good fit for all in the family in walking distance to the schools, and this was it.

Don't despair. It will sell for whatever its merits are.

Hammer -- sounds like the home you bought was older, and the older a home gets, the wider the range of values can be for exactly the reasons that they will vary in what has been done to change them. But I wonder if even there the ranges have narrowed.

From my limited perspective, it seems like there has been less recognition of upgrades in appraisals since the last big real estate bubble burst. I think there are buyers who will pay more for the upgrades and they would need to if the appraisals recognized them. Otherwise, you need a buyer who will be putting down a larger down payment or even a cash buyer. My dad sold to a cash buyer and we were hearing of a number of them at that time. Investors and older buyers.

handmethathammer makes an excellent point about finding the right buyer:

my sister-in-law was looking to buy a forever home, paying for it in cash. She bought a top-dollar home because everything in that home was new and remodeled, and it had what looked like a professional landscape. It even came with some of the furniture. In fact, she loved it so much that the fact the new kitchen remodel lacked a dishwasher was...not that big of a deal?! Of course, she wants a dishwasher now that she is living there, but she was so wowed by the new everything, the lovely staging (it's not even a style she likes -- all very Tuscan) but she liked that it all matched and was consistent throughout the house, and that the outside tied in with the inside. She felt like she could move right in and LIVE there, not fix anything or deal with remodeling.

I wonder if it's easier to get your money back from upgrades in "mass-produced" developments? Original buyers pick their upgrades from a list so I'm thinking that it's possible that at re-sell the upgrades become more tangible to the next buyer.

If you believe HGTV, lots of buyers like move in condition. It seems upgraded homes don't last long on the market here, unless they are overpriced.

It sounds like patty cakes updated the kitchen and baths, and I wonder if that makes a difference. I often hear kitchens and baths sell a home.

Actually, lascatx, my house was only three years old when we bought it. The previous home owners did a lot of improvements on what was a spec home, then moved for a job transfer.

Having owned several homes and knowing what things cost, I thought the upgrades and the location were worth the money. Although it was high for the comps in the area, it was a bigger house, better floor plan, and the location was perfect....and it fit all our needs at 50K under our budget. There aren't many comps in the area, as most of the subdivision was sold off as lots for custom builds.

I admit I was a little worried the bank would not appraise it for as much as we bought it for, but they did for a handful of thousands more. Now I did a bunch of more upgrades to the space. Hope I don't have to sell anytime soon, because I don't think we'd get our investment back. But there is nothing I don't like about this house. My teen made cookies today and marveled about how convenient it was having everything in arm's reach.

I too have experienced the " check marks" - a faucet is a faucet, and a furnace is just a furnace. We paid a fair price for this uncared-for house and now I'm finding that, after three years, things must be done... no more putting off. My son just did an excellent job of replacing the fence line; just replaced one water heater and find that the second is going too; I have bids on two new furnace/AC systems, plus all new duct work as well. And, I know from past experience that I won't get one dime extra for any of it when I go to sell because one expects there to be a furnace... new or old, best or worst.

A listing of a house right around the corner just came on the market yesterday, 100+ sq ft larger than mine. It's listing for $2k more than what my agent is saying mine should be listed. Downside, NO upgrades, absolute builders grade. I can't help but think this could be advantageous for me, unless the buyer only qualities for said amount. I'm becoming more hopeful my upgrades could help sell at a slightly higher price! ;)

And it is precisely this scenario that your upgrades will pay off.

Jbr451, i'm keeping my fingers crossed.......and praying! ;)

Here's the listing.

http://www.mlsaustinhomes.info/cgi-bin/real?pge=home_view&mlsno=4411646&nlfrom=pavinson@hotmail.com&mlsname=&fromfea=true

So, this listing is your neighbor's listing?

If these are your upgrades, I would certainly highlight them in the description:

Custom ceramic tile flooring -- not sure if that adds bucks, but certainly appeal
handscraped wood flooring
SS appliances w/double
ovens/deeper sinks
custom cabinets in kitchen/bathroom( higher
'footed' bathroom vanities)
designer lighting
designer touches throughout...
walk-in
closers
landscaped yard with many
trees/ bushes/hardscape/extended flagstone patio.

Nosoccermom, no ceramic tile, but you 've got the rest of it right. However, I did forget to add custom plantation shutters in the master bedroom and greatroom. Looking at that house and comparing it to what I have makes mine look like a mansion,IMO. ;)

Do you have pictures of yours as a comparison?