https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 26 May 2026 09:19:08 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702447 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:06:02 +0000 swurlygurl 1702447@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@grizz: It's such an annoying game to play, trying to figure out what's worth it. Makes me wish I was an experienced Realtor in our area so I knew what was worth it :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702443 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:05:27 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 1702443@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@grizz: I would start by looking at comps in your neighborhood. </p> <p>Let's say a comparable house is currently for sale and has carpet, and is going for $100,000. Maybe your house is worth $100,00 as it, but the comparable house is at the tip top of the market. Everything else is selling for less. </p> <p>Now factor in the cost of your hardwood. Are you gettin any ROI? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702439 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:04:24 +0000 Smurfette 1702439@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends on the area. If every other home has hardwoods, then yep, you need to do it. Maybe try an engineered hardwood. If you want House Hunters, think about how many people are turned off by a house cause it has carpet and not hardwoods. They aren't hard to install, but some people don't want to deal with it. </p> <p>I would rather replace the backsplash myself. (as a buyer) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702434 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:02:22 +0000 Boheme 1702434@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swurlygurl: Hmm. We had a huge school split, and our neighborhood is zoned for really desirable schools, whereas none of the nearby neighborhoods are anymore. We always have people cruising our neighborhood looking for houses for sale, but there aren't any yet. We could finish our bonus room to make it really stand out, but that would cost us about 7k. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702432 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:01:46 +0000 MamaMoose 1702432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It totally depends on your neighborhood. In our current neighborhood we are already pretty maxed out on upgrades so anything else we put into the house probably won't come back to us because people are only going to pay so much to live there. In the neighborhood we are thinking about buying in, one of the things we love is that other homes on the street are going for over $100K more than what we would pay so we have plenty of room to put upgrades into the home and get our money back. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702427 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:00:35 +0000 snowjewelz 1702427@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would do both (based on the housing climate in my area). </p> <p>If you can't afford pure hardwood, maybe try bamboo or laminate? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702426 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:00:17 +0000 looch 1702426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As a buyer, neither of those things would turn me off (carpet and no backsplash).</p> <p>Do the other homes in the neighborhood have hardwoods or laminate? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702418 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:59:12 +0000 MaryM 1702418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>if your carpet is in awful shape, I'd look into replacing it. But I'd ask a realtor about the return on investment before looking into hardwoods</p> <p>For the back splash, DH and I discussed this because we're redoing our kitchen cabinets and hope to move within the year. I suggested we not worry about the back splash. The sink is in the pass-through area of the kitchen so we don't actually need anything to protect against "splash", and I figure if we leave the rest of the walls plain, then it will be easier for the next owner to put in tiles they like if they want them. </p> <p>I hate the idea of installing something someone might hate and tear right out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702416 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:58:33 +0000 regberadaisy 1702416@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would do the backslash because the kitchen is a huge selling point. </p> <p>I lean towards no hardwood because they're so so expensive and I just don't think you'll get the return on selling price. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702409 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:56:11 +0000 cascademom 1702409@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You could paint the area of the backsplash instead of spending the money on it. Since we're moving in the near future, we decided to hold off on it at our condo. It wasn't tiled when we moved in and we haven't done it in the years we've been there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702408 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:56:05 +0000 swurlygurl 1702408@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Personally, as a home buyer, neither of those (lack of hardwood floors or backsplash) would turn me off of a home with the layout/neighborhood I desired. I might be willing to pay more for a house WITH them though... (Although, as a husband/wife team who prefer to do home improvements ourselves, we'd probably rather pay less for a house and make the improvements we want, so we wouldn't want to pay enough extra for those features to make it worth it for the previous owner to do it for resale vale)</p> <p>Also, is your home pretty standard and readily available, or is there something about it that would make it sell quickly? For example, in my area split level homes with a two-car garage are a dime a dozen - those homes would NEED something extra to stand out and sell! However, a ranch with a three-car garage would go in a hot second because there are never ANY on the market, they get snatched up soooo quickly. Something to think about. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702405 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:54:38 +0000 littlek 1702405@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the backsplash is a good idea. Not sure if it's worth the return on investment to put in hardwood floors. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702403 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:53:38 +0000 Mae 1702403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel like a backsplash is always worth it because it makes a huge difference in the look of your kitchen and it is pretty cheap to do (especially if you diy, but even if you hire out I think). </p> <p>Wood floors are a harder call. I think it really depends on your specific neighborhood and what buyers in your area are looking for/willing to pay for. I'd maybe talk to a realtor and see their opinion about upgrading, and about whether or not paying for solid hardwood is worth it or if they'd recommend you maybe do engineered hardwood or even laminate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-upgrades-worth-it#post-1702398 Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:51:26 +0000 Boheme 1702398@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH is actively looking for a job in my hometown so we can relocate. Who knows if it will take 6 months or 4 years for him to find something. We will put our house on the market as soon as he gets a job offer. </p> <p>Two upgrades we've always planned to make are hardwood floors, and a kitchen backsplash. Our carpet is driving me crazy, and we're spending a lot of money having it steam cleaned every so often to maintain it. I just don't know that our builder grade carpet can hang until we sell! And is a backsplash a must? </p> <p>Would it be worth putting these upgrades in knowing we're going to sell sooner or later? We live in a hot new construction neighborhood where houses sell really quickly. </p>