We go to open houses in our area. Get a feel for what other's have done to make sure your house is current and at the right price point for your neighborhood market. Appraisers will notice when modifications have been done and to what level with the value your house. While I wouldn't contact a real estate agent purely for renovations reason attending open houses I've become acquanited with many local agents and ask them questions about what sells, what doesn't what makes sense to upgrade a house. Our philosphy with our older home is every year we tackle something. Not always big projects but there are some very obvious things that needed to be upgraded that weren't too expensive to accomplish, major renovations we plan on are: basement, kitchen and one bathroom. After that it will be cosmetic changes. Even if you re-do a kitchen or bathroom - in 7-10 years it will be dated.

OP, could have written your exact same post. We are gutting the kitchen and doing a lot of upgrades to our first floor. Since it's a small space, I thought it couldn't be that expensive. I was so wrong. That being said, we've been able to prioritize what would really add to the quality of our life and what seems standard around our neighborhood in terms of amenities. I think folks are right that 100% return is not be expected, but it could also make a difference in terms of a quicker sale and a nicer experience for your family.
Good luck!

how about a kitchen in the basement!

Anonymous wrote:Hey 12:05 PP - Can you tell us who your contractor was and how to reach him?

JP's Home Repair and Maintenance-- Jim and Joshua Parker, a father and son team that I highly recommend. They get the job done at a very reasonable price. Make sure to have a good idea for your design of the kitchen or bath and whatever else you are trying to update. Their number is (7 0 3) 2 9 6 - 2 8 7 4. Best of luck, Ed

If you can manage the way it is now, then you do not really have to have it.
Sounds like you have other legitimate places to invest money right now.
Do not try and convince him, just tell him how much you would like it.
There really is no pressing need to do so now or to wait. Both options are valid

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think meeting with a realtor is the first thing you should do. Get an idea of how those improvements would improve the value of your home and go from there. Based on what the realtor says you can decided what is an appropriate amount of money to spend and where it would be best to spend that money.

Of course this is based on the assumption that you plan on selling in 5-7 years. That alkong with how long you ahve already been there makes huge difference on how much money you should put into your home.

This is absurd advice unless the renovations are intended to help move the house on the market.

how is it absure to say meet with a realtor to get an idea of how major and expensive home improvement will impact the value of a home? I think it would be ridiculous for OP to say put in 20K work of renovations if in 5 yrs they will go to sell and not recoup any of those costs or learn that they shoud have done the kitchen remodel versus finishing the basement. Now if OP was going to stay in the home for 10-20 years then yes, the advice makes no sense but it was mentioned that they plan on selling in 5-7 yrs.

Dude. 5 to 7 years is a LONG time. The resale question is immaterial.

Resale isn't immaterial. Unless you are retiring and never plan on moving, resale is a consideration. My friend and her husband weren't thinking about moving until the market rebounded. Then he got an amazing opportunity in another state. Now they're scrambling to make upgrades that were long overdue so they can get a quick sale. They don't want to be stuck with a mortgage and rent. My friend is furious that her husband didn't listen to her and make the upgrades years ago. It feels like pouring money down the drain to her, but they have no choice.

DH and I are considering remodeling our kitchen and I'd like to know what's average for our neighborhood. I don't want to go over the top and find out that it does nothing for our bottom line. I also don't want to have a sub par remodel, either, because it won't help resale.

Anonymous wrote:Hey 12:05 PP - Can you tell us who your contractor was and how to reach him?

Sure - I'll post tonight, I have to get the info from my DH.

The son is a plumber, so he was able to set up the garbage disposable and dishwasher, both of which we didn't have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think meeting with a realtor is the first thing you should do. Get an idea of how those improvements would improve the value of your home and go from there. Based on what the realtor says you can decided what is an appropriate amount of money to spend and where it would be best to spend that money.

Of course this is based on the assumption that you plan on selling in 5-7 years. That alkong with how long you ahve already been there makes huge difference on how much money you should put into your home.

This is absurd advice unless the renovations are intended to help move the house on the market.

how is it absure to say meet with a realtor to get an idea of how major and expensive home improvement will impact the value of a home? I think it would be ridiculous for OP to say put in 20K work of renovations if in 5 yrs they will go to sell and not recoup any of those costs or learn that they shoud have done the kitchen remodel versus finishing the basement. Now if OP was going to stay in the home for 10-20 years then yes, the advice makes no sense but it was mentioned that they plan on selling in 5-7 yrs.

Dude. 5 to 7 years is a LONG time. The resale question is immaterial.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think meeting with a realtor is the first thing you should do. Get an idea of how those improvements would improve the value of your home and go from there. Based on what the realtor says you can decided what is an appropriate amount of money to spend and where it would be best to spend that money.

Of course this is based on the assumption that you plan on selling in 5-7 years. That alkong with how long you ahve already been there makes huge difference on how much money you should put into your home.

This is absurd advice unless the renovations are intended to help move the house on the market.

how is it absure to say meet with a realtor to get an idea of how major and expensive home improvement will impact the value of a home? I think it would be ridiculous for OP to say put in 20K work of renovations if in 5 yrs they will go to sell and not recoup any of those costs or learn that they shoud have done the kitchen remodel versus finishing the basement. Now if OP was going to stay in the home for 10-20 years then yes, the advice makes no sense but it was mentioned that they plan on selling in 5-7 yrs.

Anonymous wrote:I think meeting with a realtor is the first thing you should do. Get an idea of how those improvements would improve the value of your home and go from there. Based on what the realtor says you can decided what is an appropriate amount of money to spend and where it would be best to spend that money.

Of course this is based on the assumption that you plan on selling in 5-7 years. That alkong with how long you ahve already been there makes huge difference on how much money you should put into your home.

This is absurd advice unless the renovations are intended to help move the house on the market.

Is there anyone who has renovated their basement in an older home and excavated the old basement floor to gain more ceiling height? If so, how deep did you excavate? How much did it add to the project cost? Do you know if your contractor used underpinning or "bench footings" around the basement walls? Were you satisfied with the result - was it worth it? Can you recommend any contractors who are experienced with floor excavation? Thanks.

Hey 12:05 PP - Can you tell us who your contractor was and how to reach him?

I think meeting with a realtor is the first thing you should do. Get an idea of how those improvements would improve the value of your home and go from there. Based on what the realtor says you can decided what is an appropriate amount of money to spend and where it would be best to spend that money.

Of course this is based on the assumption that you plan on selling in 5-7 years. That alkong with how long you ahve already been there makes huge difference on how much money you should put into your home.

As with any home improvement you can control the cost by determining ahead of time where you want to invest money and where you are willing to cut back. Do a lot of research. Go to kitchen stores, look over cabinets, counter tops - at all levels- high, middle, cheap. Decide what you can live with and what you can't. We are in the process of a basement renovation. It doubles the size of our house. Its above ground so very usable enjoyable space. My DH only wants high end applicances and materials, I work on finding cheaper alternatives to keep within budget. We did the demo of the old basement ourselves to save money. How long did it take my DH to decide it was time to renovate the basement? 10 years. Each year we pick a project to work on, he was more interested in the outdoor landscaping, while I was more interested interior updates. In the 10 years we've talked about the basement renovations our needs have changed. We wanted nice bathroom tile and vanity/sink and toilet. We reduced costs in other areas to make up for the cost for the bathroom.

I could have written your post early in the summer - disgusting kitchen with a DH who thought it was perfectly fine! I could see the look on people's faces when they walked into our kitchen, like "how the hell can you cook in this pathetic kitchen"? We didn't have a dishwasher! Well, my DH sold a rental property and decided to make some updates to our home , and like you, our home is small (but we love it), so any extra space is useful. He found a father/son team to do our kitchen, which was basically gutted (it's small though), the cost for labor for new walls, cabinets, sink, backsplash, floor, was $4K. Add in the new cabinets, floors, backsplashes, vents, sink, dishwasher, the total was around $6.5K - we didn't need new appliances. These guys did a great job! He then hired them to renovate our basement bathroom, and again, it turned out lovely, with the total cost $8K (we had a nice shower designed, so the cost was much more).

We didn't buy top of the line cabinets, but what we bought looks lovely and I'm happy. I can now finally prepare a meal and enjoy being in the kitchen. We already have a finished basement, space we use for a family room, office and playroom. When we bought our house, we knew the basement had water issues, so the first renovation was the basement, literally gutting it down to the earth. You have a tough decision; both the kitchen and extra space are equally desirable. I'd beg for both!!! FWIW, I waited 5 years for the new kitchen