Over Improving Your Home

QUESTION: Does granite countertops and ceramic & wood floors add value to your home?

ANSWER: These upgrades will enhance your home's appeal and will help it sell more quickly, but adds little value if your home is valued under $300,000.  The market definitely penalizes you for the lack of these upgrades if your home is valued over $300,000.  Homes in the $400,000 and up price range HAVE to have these features.  

A client of mine who flips houses in the $100,000-$125,000 range has found that upgrading his houses with these luxury amenities added a little more cost to what he was going to replace any way and even though it didn't increase the sale price, his houses presented better than the competition and helped his properties sell.  However, he did not tear out and replace an item that did not already need to be replaced.  

I just sold a property that had these features and even though our buyer appreciated the granite, wood and ceramic, the appraiser did not.  The appraisal came in at the exact price of an identical property which has Formica tops, carpet and vinyl.  Again, these items WILL help your house sell but rarely will you recoup much of your investment.