Kitchen Remodel, How much should you spend?

It is great to be able to spend money on a complete kitchen remodel, if you have the funds to do so. However, for every day people, money for such projects is hard to come by and in many cases, do not yield a big return investment wise.  Well I am sure you have heard that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes and this concept has been reinforced many times on television remodel shows,etc. The truth is, you may not recoup a majority of your expenses. You may only break even, or even lose some money. Why is this? Simply put, its all about where you live and what your neighbors have that dictates whether your money is well spent.

Consider this. If the homes in your existing neighborhood all have dated kitchens and are fetching at or below market value, you may want to scale back your improvements if you're looking to make money off your efforts. Dated homes take longer to sell but if you have many in your neighborhood the buyers looking are not expecting to pay far more for your lavish updates. You'd think just the opposite would apply, your updates should set your home above the rest, and command a better price. Unfortunately that rarely is the case.

So what can you do in this situation? Well you might want to scale back your project. If most kitchens in your neighborhood have laminate counter tops, that is what buyers in that  price point expect to find in your home. That doesn't mean you can invest in nice laminate though. Wilsonart has incredible updated styles that would surely appeal to a buyer, but save you thousands at the same time. Dated old wood cabinets in other homes on the street don't mean you're stuck either, but you may want to considered giving them a fresh new look with paint. Flooring too can be freshened up using some of the tile look alike peel and stick varieties and again save you thousands.
Here's an example of what paint can do for a kitchen, that can stand out and be noticed.