Real Estate

Above: A complete kitchen renovation was required for this Livingston, NY, house at an estimated cost of $45,000. Photo courtesy of Andrew Gates, Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate

The old real estate saying is that a kitchen and the primary bedroom are the selling features of a house. Of course, that presumes that location, size, price, style, and general condition already have been considered.

“My observation on kitchens is that in showing property, this is one of the first rooms a potential buyer will go to. If it is first class, that sets the tone for the rest of the showing,” says John Harney of William Pitt Sotheby’s. “So it certainly is important to have a well-equipped kitchen for resale value!”

Don’t do a total kitchen renovation

We asked real estate pros who have renovated and sold their own properties if a seller should invest in a kitchen upgrade to “first class” to maximize sale value.

The answer was a consistent NO.

“Unless a kitchen cannot be made clean and appealing, with all appliances working properly and no stains, I would not advise renovating a kitchen before listing as you will seldom recoup the cost,” advised Juliet Moore of Elyse Harney Real Estate. “Everyone has such a personal opinion on kitchens that buyers are likely going to plan a renovation anyway.”

Andrew Gates of Houlihan Lawrence agreed, “How do you know if you’re going to make the right decision? Even professional investors can make this mistake. The outcome is risky and uncertain.”

In addition to expense, a kitchen renovation requires months of work, an indeterminate number of unknown surprises, decision making, and delays before getting a house on the market.

Begin by subtracting

Evaluate your kitchen objectively. Start with no-cost editing, although it can be difficult. Take away humorous wall signs like “Many have eaten here … few have died.”

Remove refrigerator magnets, shopping lists, and photographs. Take away the floor mats. Try to make the space appear bigger by carting away unnecessary pieces of furniture, like a worn armchair or a plant stand.

Remove curtains and valances from windows to let in sunshine. Counters should be cleared, including of small appliances like air fryers, blenders, coffee grinders, and toaster ovens.

Organize the contents of kitchen cabinets to give the impression that there’s plenty of space. Get rid of those mismatched glasses and the holiday mugs you’ve been saving for a yard sale.

Your individualistic touches, like a collection of animal salt and pepper shakers or a wall of vintage oil cans will not appeal to everyone and should be stored out of sight. Stash that entire basket of miscellaneous stuff – phone chargers, sun glasses, light bulbs, batteries, and the detritus of everyday living – out of sight.

Become Mr. Clean; remove crumbs from drawers, baked-on spills in the oven, smudges on cabinets, and unattractive leftovers from the refrigerator. Sinks should gleam and stainless shine. Buyers do look inside drawers and trash cans and under the sink. They look out and see dirty windows – so wash them. Less consciously, they also look up and notice dead light bulbs, fluorescent fixtures, and dated chandeliers. Subtracting a TGIF faux Tiffany ceiling light is an easy fix with a big payback.

What the buyer sees in the kitchen affects their whole impression of the rest of the house. And make sure that all of your appliances are in working order. As Moore says, “Make it look in such a way that a potential buyer would feel good about cooking in the kitchen right then and there.”

Affordable improvements can make a big difference

Remember the kitchen in the Nancy Meyer’s movie Something’s Gotta Give? Creamy white colors, comfortable, traditional, but contemporary. Small improvements, which can be done quickly and without a major investment, will make a major difference.

Start with a fresh coat of paint in a neutral, light color, and don’t forget the ceiling. The kitchen will immediately seem brighter and cleaner.

If you have dark, wooden cabinets, a professional paint job on the doors can completely upgrade the look of the kitchen. Select a light, bright, neutral color in eggshell.

New cabinet door hardware can also alter the look by replacing old, grimy knobs with sleek, modern handles. This simple solution will not work for all cabinet types, so in those cases it’s best to leave them in place, as the sellers of a house in 1994 did with lavender steel St. Charles cabinets that had been custom designed for the house in 1958. Then those buyers left them there when they resold the house in 2024.

A larger investment with big impact is simply changing out the countertops from dated, scratched, or stained butcher block, Formica, or tile to a bright Quartz. This can immediately transform a kitchen but keep it simple and monochrome. A switch-out of sink faucets from a Home Depot Delta to a high-end brand like Water Works or Grohe will suggest quality through the home.

In the 24-year experience of Andrew Gates, buyers do notice brand names and luxury touches. Adding elegant overhead lighting and pendant lamps can also completely alter the look of a kitchen – again keep it simple but elegant.

Big-ticket items

Are your appliances working? How old are they? Are they dented, damaged, or beyond cleaning? Without going full Sub-Zero or installing a $20,000 Aga range, you can replace appliances with standard, stainless models without huge expense. Look for deals on floor models and avoid those jazzy, red refrigerators. Some European luxury brands, like Italian Bertazzonni, are less expensive than you think and can add a whole sleek look, and Ikea offers budget appliances and cabinets that are highly ranked by Consumer Reports.

Completely redone kitchens can cost any amount

Sometimes there is no choice but to do a complete gut renovation of a kitchen. But even this can be done for less than $50,000, as Gates proved with a house in Livingston, NY, he recently redid.

“It is nearly impossible to know the price of a new kitchen as it totally depends on the size, the appliances chosen, the fixtures (faucets can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars), the type of cabinets and number of them, the flooring type, lighting … everything,” according to Moore. “And it also depends if they are replacing the appliances, moving plumbing, gutting the space, and/or starting with a whole new floor plan.”

If you’re selling it’s probably best to let the buyer make these decisions. A total renovation is not only expensive but also time consuming and often counterproductive, especially if it’s in stark contrast to the rest of the house. Buyers can feel they are paying for a renovation that they don’t like and walk away.

Buyers should make an itemized budget estimate for their dream kitchen when they consider purchasing a house. “While buyers typically say they don’t want to renovate, what they often mean is they want a house to be attractive, appealing, and livable when they buy and may plan a new kitchen down the road,” in Moore’s experience. “Eventually they will want to put their own mark on the home.”