I live in Katy, Texas. Here you could live without air conditioning, but I wouldn't recommend it. (I grew up without air conditioning).

In terms of what adds value to RE? location, location, location. The rest is just one box versus another box. Difference in ammenities can add value, but only if it's important to the buyer. That doesn't necessarily mean they will pay more for it. WHY? Because your valuation will be compared with other "like" properties in your area and what they recently sold for.

Much of this can be said by Supply & Demand of a particular area... there's only xyz available of similar homes in an area and there's dozens and dozens of people who want those similarities. Prices tend to go up under those conditions.

If an area is common for "not having" air conditioning... it would help you stand out to those people in which air conditioning is important. But this doesn't necessarily mean you will or won't sell this feature for more money.

It's like if someone here spent extra money for top of the line AC in order to sell a home, it would help him sell the home but not likely for extra money over that of a comparable home with a Builder Grade HVAC system.

It comes up all the time... I go to a house, the AC is broken. They tell me hey we are selling the house so "please tell us you can just fix it." People do not say "we are selling our house please tell us we need a new HVAC system so we can get top dollar for it" -- it's not likely you will recoup the investment.

The way you recoup this investment: You put it in and use it for 15 years. Average life nationally is about 15 years. The better design, efficiency of the machine help pay for it self... but in the event you didn't have air conditioning before... the costs go up, not down. (utilities, maintenance, repairs, etc)

Comfort means different things to different people. There is the rub, if you will.

There is also a thing called over improving a home for the neighborhood it sits in. You can recoup that sometimes... but you have to hold onto waiting for that day to come. Sometimes it will, other times it won't due to conditions beyond your control. Things like meth kitchens, drug houses which bring crime and all other kinds of house depreciating value. When I say depreciating in this sense I am refering to the actual value of the home, not writing expenses off for a deduction on your taxes.

Hi, Melanie,

I believe your question is really about consumer perception of mini-splits in your area. There was a study on ductless mini split heat pumps in Massachusetts which was published in 2014. It should provide some useful insights:

https://ma-eeac.org/wp-content/uploads/Ductless-Min-Split-Heat-Pump-Customer-Survey-Results1.pdf

Be sure to check out the responses to the survey questions.

We are under contract to convert to ductless mini splits in MA; work begins next week. Depending where in MA you live and the housing market…. We expect our home just outside of Boston to continue to appreciate in value and the switch to full electric will help. Will we fully recoup the amount we spend for the switch? I don’t expect to. But it won’t hinder any sale.