You're in good financial shape. Don't worry about "overpaying" - it happened to us in 1989, and we survived just fine over the long haul. Painful for a while, but it worked out. And besides, we had to have a place to live, anyway. Might as well be twice the room of our old apartment and a free parking space in front as well, LOL. Your best bet to maintain top value is to not over-improve your home, but keep it in absolutely top condition. This includes doing anything structural or system-related that is needed as time goes on. We overimproved our house, but consider it worth it because we have enjoyed the benefits for the last 20 years. What actually makes the house saleable, however, are the structural improvements - a more modern open floor plan, upgraded kitchen and baths, the top-to-bottom electrical/plumbing/sewer upgrades (most homes here have a patchwork of old and new stuff done, not a complete system upgrade). You do not have to do this - in fact, I'd recommend you don't! Home improvement on a full-scale is a seriously slippery slope. You'll love the end result, but you won't necessarily get back that much more money on resale than someone who just kept their home in good condition with modest upgrades. Only you can decide how much a big remodeling project is worth to you. Just don't count on more than 20-30% of the cost adding $$ to your home's value when you go to resell it 10 years from now.

I disagree I don't think it can wait. For one, there is stripped wallpaper everywhere and stripped popcorn ceilings - who wants to live with that? Nothing transforms a home and makes it yours like a fresh coat of paint in some colors you love. I know everyone says how colors look different in different homes etc BUT if you choose colors you love and paint it now, you will definitely feel like it is more "yours" and fresher, cleaner and nicer with a coat of paint even if the color is not 100% perfect for the lighting or whatever. I chose our colors before we moved in and before we put the furniture in (so much easier to paint with the floors out and nothing inside!). We are delighted with the colors! We have mainly BM Mascarpone a warm white without noticeable pink or yellow undertones, accent wall in the living room and office BM Mexicana, and the bedroom is BM Wedgewood Grey (a calm spa color I just adore it). I would pick a warm white color and paint everything including ceilings that color and pick one or 2 accent walls to paint darker, if you end up not liking the accent color it is easy to repaint one wall.

Thanks for the advice, all. Our realtor is local to us and knows the area well, and is one of the most successful agents around. We had a great experience with her when purchasing the foreclosed home we bought last year. She was quick to solve problems, offer advice and ow wine as needed, and basically made the sale happen despite Fanny Mae's best efforts to make it too difficult. We've spoken briefly with her RE our home, and she has already made some suggestions. She knows what we are capable of after following our reno of the aforementioned forelosure. We are madly de-cluttering, and will be deep-cleaning every room in addition to engaging a housekeeper to help us keep the place spotless. I will share her suggestions here. Mostly I am wondering how the contract will work. We are in Maine, if that matters. I purchased our current home through a first-time homebuyers program which had a very specific process. Our foreclosure again was purchased through a specific process with our agent acting as a buyers agent. We've never sold a home before, and are just looking for some guidelines about the process.

So I've been trying to draw out my ideas on my computer but can't seem to save It in a format that I can upload so I will try to explain my idea as best I can. I would start by making the breakfast area into your mudroom. Continue the exterior wall that goes out to the morning room back into the current kitchen to separate the mudroom from the rest of the house. The current morning room and kitchen I would convert into the adult living room, removing that staircase if possible. I would then remove the fireplace in the current dining room, shorten the wall with the fireplace and remove the current pantry with the exception of the wall adjoining to the butler pantry. I would then turn the butler pantry into a narrow powder room with a pocket door to save space and keep everything open. The current dining room will then become your kitchen. From there the stairs to downstairs becomes a closet. Open up all the walls in the current dining room, study and living room. I would then extend the raised floor out to the end of the study and make stairs straight across. Your current study would be your dining room, and the living room would stay as is. I do realize that this plan does not include a full bathroom. I have sat here for quite a while trying to find a good option for locating the full bath but couldn't find a place that I thought was sufficient and didn't interupt the flow. My best option was to make the mudroom a bit bigger and incorporate it into the mudroom. I made this plan based on how it would flow best. I believe that at least one or two of those walls are load bearing. Depending on your budget you should be able to reinforce the roof with a beam. This is a very extensive renovation. So while you may get some great help on here I suggest consulting with a contractor and a designer before you solidify any plans. There are a lot of variables, especially with a stone house.