When it comes to increasing the value of your house, nothing beats sprucing up the Kitchen and Bathrooms. People spend a good deal of time in their kitchens. A kitchen will sell a house if done properly. The last house I bought had cabinets from K-Mart and were the snap together type made of white particle board. There was no trim on them either. They looked like they belonged in a garage. The floor was linoleum and had plenty of waterstains and the subfloor was visible where the plastic had torn. I was very happy to see the kitchen in this state. What I saw was OPPURTUNITY. The decision to gut the kitchen from floor to ceiling and then some was easy. I spent just under $2500 on the materials and another $1000 in labor (if you include my labor calculated at $20/hr.) I had an assistant who I pay $15/hr. We also added some duct work from the kitchen to an addition that was technically not required but added 400 Sq. Ft. of heated/cooled area. Here is the final product. I increased the value of the house 31% (based on the eventual sale price) spending about 33% of my budget $10,000 budget in the kitchen. That is a 3:1 ROI.
