Will inset cabinets improve your home’s selling price?

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Packard

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According to Southern Living Magazine, only re-facing the cabinets + new flooring + new applieances (about $28,000.00) is likely to be recouped in resale. I was surprised to hear that.

I refaced my cabinets + new counters and new appliances (but no new flooring), new sink & faucet, but no new backsplash.. I probably shot myself in the foot with the black painted cabinets. But since I did all the work myself, I will probably recoup my cost.

 
ROI in cases like this are really hard to determine. It's unlikely to ever get you a profit, an even "push" would be just as rare. Probably the best you could hope for is that it is more attractive to buyers, increasing interest/quicker sale.
At that point, you be the judge. Did a small loss, that actually moved the house, really count against you?
Purely speculation on my part, I don't buy or sell houses (or kitchens, for that matter)
 
Wouldn't the sheer volume of house flippers who buy properties and perform cosmetic improvements and then sell for significantly more than they bought them for, be a good indication that doing improvements does generally add resale value?
 
In a slow market it will make the house more attractive to buyers, in a market where house stocks are exceeded by demand which is the case in Australia then no. Australian real estate prices are off the planet due to demand exceeding supply and first time buyers have now become locked out of the market and it is common for parents to stump up the money needed for the deposit. Houses here in poor condition are getting stupid money when sold and there is no indication that will change.
 
Key factor in kitchen and bath after a remodel is——did you enjoy them prior to the sale, if the answer is yes, the rest does not matter.

Tom
 
I am skeptical of where Southernliving.com got their numbers, so I tracked down the footnotes.

Well, they got their numbers from a report by The Journal of Light Construction.

Ok, where did the Journal of Light Construction get their numbers ?

Well, they got their numbers from costvsvalue.com. Which actually there does not seem to be any such web site --- it seems to be part of the Journal of Light Construction. But anyways...

Costvsvalue.com got their cost numbers from Bureau of Labor Statistics and got their benefit numbers from a survey of realtors.
Perhaps they have valid methods of ensuring they are comparing apples to apples, but I am still skeptical that their budget is refacing the drawer fronts and realtors are giving estimates of added value of a full remodel.

In a quick search, I found Cost Vs Value2023 which shows that on a kitchen remodel, you get back roughly 40% to 80% of your costs.
So I would take any of these numbers with a grain of salt.
 
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tjbnwi said:
Key factor in kitchen and bath after a remodel is——did you enjoy them prior to the sale, if the answer is yes, the rest does not matter.

Tom
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This.
If stuff is in a bad shape or outright ugly .. it is a good idea. If stuff is mostly OK .. not so much.

I would certainly not go on replacing working appliances.
As a buyer I would either compromise with accepting whatever is in place OR want my own desired brand/type. The one thing that would piss me off is new stuff I do not like .. it makes little sense to replace appliances unless one is doing a full remodel.

Especially goes for any "smart" internet-connected junk that may try spying on me "on behalf" of the previous owner.
 
What surprised me when looking at various articles, was that a new roof is a bad investment unless the old one is leaking. Apparently, that will return about 50% of your investment.
 
tjbnwi said:
Key factor in kitchen and bath after a remodel is——did you enjoy them prior to the sale, if the answer is yes, the rest does not matter.

Tom
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Expanding this thought, in long run keeping up one’s home as time goes by with quality small to medium updates will increase enjoyment and add value should you sell.

Maybe you install new faucets (as do most flippers) but get quality units that last decades rather than bargain big box. Or an appliance, or light fixtures, or painting or flooring…. Financial ROI or profit? Probably not, but you get to use and enjoy them now.
 
An old real estate agent customer of mine would have me do $1k to2k projects in his home every couple of years. His reasoning is that you needed to do them that way so that when you eventually decided to sell your home you didn't need to take out a loan just to get ready to sell. Another reason was so that you could get enjoyment versus spending the money and then when you listed the home everything looked so much better for the next owner versus you.

Peter
 
peter halle said:
DoAn old real estate agent customer of mine would have me do $1k to2k projects in his home every couple of years. His reasoning is that you needed to do them that way so that when you eventually decided to sell your home you didn't need to take out a loan just to get ready to sell. Another reason was so that you could get enjoyment versus spending the money and then when you listed the home everything looked so much better for the next owner versus you.

Peter
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That’s the key to keeping a car for years and years. Fix all the little things as they happen. That way, when something major comes along you won’t say, “I’m not spending $2,000.00 on this bucket of junk.” Instead you will say, Everything works. Where can I get a running car for $2,000.00”. And so you get the major repair done.
 
Lies, damned lies, and statistics. You can spin statistics to suit your cause.

Don't renovate your house for the purposes of planning to resell it; do it to enjoy your life -- unless you are a flipper and know what you're doing.

You don't know who your buyer is and therefore, you don't know their taste. If the market is up, you will get a good price no matter what you've done or not done to your kitchen, garden, etc. If it's a slow market, the market dictates.
 
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