Since there are so few higher end houses in your area you may want to contact a few realtors and get their opinions. A high-end home could sit forever because you suffer from being the nicest house on the block (town) syndrome. Your house might also sell very quickly without any updates because of the lack of inventory at your price point. A realtor would be able to give you a better perspective on the market in your area. Interview at least three realtors. If at all possible interview realtors that have experience selling higher end homes.

Upgrading to granite may make your home look more expensive but it is doubtful you will recover the cost at sale. It may help your house sell quicker. Upgrading the hardware might update the look. Personally hardware on the cabinets is not going to make or break a deal on the house for me.

Do your carpets need to be replaced or just cleaned? You will get varying opinions on replacement vs a credit for new carpet but if the carpets are in bad shape replacing them will make your house look better.

I think you should make sure your home is clean, well maintained and decluttered and price it accordingly. You'd probably get more with an updated kitchen, it may sell faster with an updated kitchen. But I don't think you'll get all of the money you put into updating the kitchen back out of the home.

We had friends with 15 year old carpet call in a pro to clean them and the buyer never even realized the carpets were 15 years old. Have a pro come in and clean them well and if the realtor still thinks there is a problem, then talk about either replacing them or offering a buyer credit.

Brass just screams "not updated". It takes very little effort to switch out the hinges, knobs, and light fixtures with some bargain choices in a more "today" finish. If the cabinets are painted, a fresh coat of paint may make them look brand new. If the appliances are bisque, yes, that can be out of style, but if they complement your cabinets nicely, they'll look at home. THe biggie for me would be the tile countertops. I know tile is more common in the West than here, but tile countertops do not at all say "high end" to most people. They say, "lots of effort to maintain that icky grout, and a budget choice in a high end home so what else has been cheaped out on." Pre formed slab granite counters can be had fairly cheaply these days, and if you pick a neutral or dark color that complements you painted cabinets, I think it'd be a worthwhile investment.

For the carpet, if it's dirty, either have it cleaned well enough so that the majority of stains are gone, or replace it. Yes, I understand the $$ of a "carpet allowance" are more attractive to some buyers, but again, what a stained carpet says to most (even unconsciously) is that the home hasn't received the maintainence that it's needed, and to look harder at the rest of the house for other items that also need maintainence/replacement. It's all about the psychology and the mood your home creates. The less doubt you can create in a potential buyer's mind about the level of care this home has had, the quicker the sale, and potentially the more dollars for the sale. Spending money on your house now maybe won't show up as a higher sale price, but in a slowing market, it can be the difference in carrying that morgage for another 6 months versus a SOLD sign in the yard. Unfortunately, the majority of buyers are not as educated about seeing a home's potential whe updating needs to occur as are most on this site. Most are pretty trivial, and even minor things can ruing that first impression and you have to work really hard to get past that.

Have you gone to any open houses in your area to see what is "normal"for your area. We can speculate here all day with some saying "yes, update" and others saying "no, just clean." You need to find out what is being offered in your area, in your price range. For me, I found I didn't have to worry about the weird way a second bathroom was added to our house by a previous owner because all the houses around here have weird arrangements. I also found that high-end laminate is good enough around here. In your area, it is probably very different.

I'd be hesitant about upgrading anything in the kitchen unless it's truly falling apart or nonfunctional (the case in my place, unfortunately). If your cabs and countertop are not peeling or permanently stained, I'd let them be and let the new owner(s) make whatever changes they'd like.

I agree with clemrick......you should go to open houses in your neighborhood and find out the norm.
I personally would at least change the hardware and do minor updates. Paint the walls if needed.
You might not want to do a major update, but with a little bit of minor ones-it can make a difference.

good luck-
maria

I wouldn't do upgrades that will not be normal for your neighbourhood in terms of making your home the most expensive in the area. It may help your home sell faster, but you probably won't get most of the money back.

You can replace outdated fixtures very easily and inexpensively.

Your home is already at the top of your market. I hesitate to suggest that you put even more money into it. It sounds like the location is the key point. The kitchen is 3 years old; unless there is some problem you have not told us about, don't renovate it. Even if your buyer wants granite, they may not like your choice of granite.

If the carpet really needs to be replaced, do it. Try to choose well, but don't extrapolate from one house with new carpet.

Ask realtors if brass is OK in your market or not. Houses here seem to sell OK with brass, but that does not seem to be true elsewhere.

Go to other open houses to see what other houses at your price point are doing or ask realtors for advice. You want to update your place to the same level as the rest of your neighborhood. If everybody else has granite, then you might need to get granite as well. Kitchens and bathrooms are probably one of the most important things buyers look at when they decide to buy a home.

Regarding appliances, stainless steel is currently fashionable and would make the kitchen even more appealing. If you decide to get new appliances, I'd go for stainless rather than white, but stainless steel is also more expensive. Since your appliances are only 3 years old, could you bring those with you to your new house?

Keep in mind, you probably won't get a full return for the money you put into the kitchen. But, it will reduce the selling time which might end up saving you money. Think of it this way. If you don't update kitchen, you might have to wait 6 months to sell your home. Along that time, you might need to reduce the price a few times. But, if you update the kitchen and can get it sold much faster, you might be able to avoid the price cuts you would have made if the house had lingered on the market.

I know tile is more common in the West than here, but tile countertops do not at all say "high end" to most people. They say, "lots of effort to maintain that icky grout

LOL DH & I were in Depot last weekend and saw beautiful countertops, of course I mentioned how hard it would be to maintain them.

We can speculate here all day with some saying "yes, update" and others saying "no, just clean." You need to find out what is being offered in your area, in your price range.

Absolutely. Where I live, I'm pretty sure my house should sell (hope I won't eat my words). While carpet could use to be replaced, I bought a shampooer hoping to just clean. We do have new carpet in 3 of the 5 places. We'll have new flooring in both bathrooms and kitchen, but will not replace the kitchen counter tops because, it's possible someone will redo the kitchen and to do that, they will probably need to but new cabinets as I doubt ours can be matched. When I 1st moved in, what is now a possible pantry area, used to be a concrete slab, a step down from the kitchen. Since there is a possible pantry area now, cabinets can be extended there as well.

We've done a lot of improvements since I've been here. The house was under contract years ago, they got out of it because of the roof, which was more than generous on our part. The house has more appeal than it ever did and if it turns out we should spend the $200 to do coutertops, then so be it. Guess we'll find out in 6 to 8 weeks

No. I would not upgrade the kitchen because:

"Mine is the only one on a golf course which is very desireable around here. "

Your house will probably sell because of the location and chances are the buyer will fall in love with the golf course view, which trumps the kitchen because for all practical purposes, this CANNOT be reproduced in the competing houses.

If I were looking for a house with a golf course view, I'd not care about the upgraded kitchen. I probably wouldn't like an updated kitchen anyways because countertops and cabinets and wallpaper etc. are very subject to taste.