Nope, I'm with you. Her house will sell for what others like it will sell for. Nicer appliances might help it sell faster, but not for more money. Is she planning on selling soon? If not, she should get what looks good to her and what suits her cooking/kitchen style and enjoy it. If she doesn't sell soon, they'll just be used appliances anyway.

If the existing appliances are truly objectionable then yes, I would definitely consider changing them out.

But if they're not objectionable, they're just older, then I would ask: Are there specific recent sales that she can point that show that new appliances lead to a higher sales price? I think that a unit with nice appliances will sell faster, but I'm not sure it would sell for a higher price.

Has she painted it? Has she looked into the cost of moving 99% of her possessions into a storage unit and staging it? I think a lot more of the sale will be based on overall appearance than on the appliances alone.

Absolutely no return for Wolf and Miele. In a $1M-2M+ plus house in an area where buyers expect a turn key luxury home for that price it can help it sell quicker. From what you describe she could go with Frigidaire or GE. All she needs is "new appliances" on the MLS.

Thanks for your opinions guys! No she hasn't painted yet, it's kind of a white colour and is all original. Her furniture was purchased fairly well when the house was so it's all in the 80's, 90's style so maybe I will mention staging to her! Thanks for that idea Practigal! Oh and yeah Sushipup1, she's in the market to sell soon. She quite likes to cooK but has never seemed to voice getting new appliances till she was in the market to sell

If resale is the concern, I suggest consulting local real estate agents. Expectations vary widely based on locale. We bought a house for over 3/4 of a million that had no working appliances of any kind. In this market, buyers don't even flinch at that kind of thing. Other places, I am sure it would be a deal breaker.

Everyone will tell you not to over improve, but when I sold my beach cottage, I had all new Kitchen Aid and Bosch appliances. It sold for truly more than it was worth in 2010, so, a terrible market. I think that if she can get a good deal on Wolf and SubZ, she should go for it. The SubZ I have in my current home was half price and I love it. Buyers know quality when they see it, and when they see it in your kitchen, they apply it to the rest of your home.

If she's looking at full price, perhaps she should consider appliances in the Kitchen Aid/Jenn Air range. If she's going to look at Frigidaire, she's better off just making an allowance for new appliances than buying something cheap just because it's new.

It absolutely will not add even one dollar more to the sales price of her home. It may as others have suggested help her home sell faster but if all the sales comps have Fridgedaire and Samsung appliances and she's putting in Wolf, Miele or Sub Zero, she will get nothing for it. In fact, my guess is the majority of people won't even know anything about the brands.

Every month not on the market could be worth a lot. So, it depends.

To give a reasonable answer I would need to know her location and approx. home value or what she plans to ask for it. If we're talking only 200k-400k then I wouldn't waste the money. If it's over 500k then it might be worth it. Where I am at, the nicer upgraded homes sell for more ALMOST ALWAYS. But in my actual neighborhood, the average person looking to buy probably hasn't heard of some of the high end brands, so no, I wouldn't spend that kind of money on my house... But it I had a pricier home, 500k-700k+, then I would definitely consider it. I would need to know the location and home value before I could offer better advice. There are too many variables.

I'd still talk to pro-stagers first. They may tell her that she has to remove all of her dated furniture and rent a house full of modern furniture and she'd be far better off doing it then messing with kitchen remodeling which is costly, time-consuming, and often times frustrating. In fact that may be the hardest thing to prepare her for-is to realize that the things that she likes are not anyone else's taste and that she is better off figuring that out and moving on.

We sold our house last year. It was getting about 5 people going through it a day.. a DAY.. and would not sell. There were people down the road that sold in a day and others that were not getting 5 people a month.

We got the traffic due to the beautiful deck. We did not sell due to the counters not being granite. In fact.. it almost did not sell due to popcorn ceilings.

The appliances looked new and were only about 4-5 years old... all matching.

Rule of thumb, people are finicky. No telling what will float their boat. If you have old crappy appliances, upgrade, but upgrade to the least expensive stainless ones you can, but make sure they match.

People do not want old, and they do not want to have to do it themselves. If they see shiny bling.. they will not pick on it as much.. but there WILL be people that will hit you on everything... just do not spend a lot of money on a house you plan to sell.

R

I think it would be a waste of money. Upscale appliances in a middle class home won't do anything for resale. Yes, new appliances would help, but basic GE, Whirlpool, etc. in SS would be better and save money.

It depends on the buyers. When I was looking at lower to medium end homes, buyers would always pick the SS Frigidaire over a white Gaggenau or Miele.

If you're looking at higher end homes, then a European brand is a "must" :)

So, in that case, as long as it is stainless steel and looks like a professional range, it'll be coveted.

Just sales price for the house doesn't tell you all that much. A $600,000 home in a small town in the mid west is luxury. In the Bay Area, it's tiny rat trap in a bad neighborhood. It's a matter of what the competition on market is like. If every house on the market in a given area is well-maintained and floor plans are similar, maybe nicer appliances will help a house stand out. If most houses on the market need substantial updating or there are very few houses on the market or a house is unique in a good way, the appliances may not matter at all. (All of those things were the case when we bought--very few houses for sale in our target neighborhood, all needing work of some kind, ours is one of very few with just one floor. So we bought it even though not a single appliance worked and the house didn't even have functioning heat.)

Honestly, real estate questions are very, very local.

Nope. It's foolish to think that high-end appliances will increase her house's value, and she's going to spend more than she'll ever get in that neighborhood.

If it brings her pleasure to cook on a 10K range, or keep her food cold in a 8K Sub Zero, then have at it. Just don't think that others will pay for the extravagance.

In my neighborhood, you wouldn't expect the homes to have Viking and Sub Zero appliances. In others, it would be out of place to not have them. Sounds like your friend's living in a neighborhood like mine.