Kitchen Updates Before Selling Home- Worth It?

I would suggest that you will NOT get the ROI you're looking for. In the end, it will probably cost you more.
You do the update, and you're paying sales tax, installation services, etc ...for everything you put in there. None of which you're going to get as part of your sell price. Anyone doing their homework would consider the cost of the appliances/countertop, and that's it. So it's cost you tax and service to put something in that you don't get back. Not a huge $$$, but, money lost, nonetheless.

You could offer it as a rebate, if you have people that are interested, but on the fence. That might sweeten the pot. But unless it's in really poor condition, don't throw your money away.

I wouldn't spend money on laminate, few people truly appreciate the functionality of it. The most all want granite, for the life of me I do not know why. I just don't think it would get the interest enough to get the money back. What you might do is negotiate money back so they can install what they want. That is what we are planning to do with our home. We have an older kitchen and ugly pool, we plan on asking average home price, and offering a a kick back. I am not sure what the offical wording for that is. Does that help?

I would give your house the best spruce up you can to sell it. I would make a list and have a budget. When I sold my last house, we completed home repairs and did some inexpensive updating, like switching out an old medicine cabinet and replacing old light fixtures. Our home sold in 3 weeks. Make sure paint looks good, you're house is de-cluttered, But looks cozy. You do not want your house on the market any longer than necessary, it will lose value, and it's an inconvenience to constantly be showing your house. What can you switch up in your kitchen to make it look good? Paint, New cabinet knobs? New Counter? New light?
The flip side is- The house on my street that's been on the market since Nov. 2010! They finally ripped up carpet that was over original hardwood floors. Took down old wallpaper. A year after it was listed! And the price has been reduced twice! Meanwhile dozens of other houses have sold in our neighborhood. This is probably your biggest investment. It makes sense to spend some money in order to sell your house.

I think I disagree with the PP. I know you said you are not in a particular hurry to sell but the longer it sits on the market the more value it loses, you need to factor that in as well. Presentation is so important to selling a home and even if you offered an appliance rebate most buyers would prefer to have it all done for them. I think a moderate investment to upgrade the kitchen is worth it. They say kitchens and bathrooms are what sell a home. If your counter tops are in good condition I would not bother with replacing laminate with laminate, just keep them clean and cleared off. Upgrading the appliances would be top of the list. Make sure the rest of the house is decluttered and relatively neutral.
We sold a home 2.5 yrs ago and made some cosmetic upgrades to the whole house (mostly window treatments and paint), decluttered everything and rearranged the living room to be less functional but more presentational. We priced it right (based on sales on comp houses sold in the previous few months) and sold it for $1,000 over asking in 2 weeks (had 20 showing in those two weeks) and all in a down market. Totally worth it.

We had a talk with our Realtor last year at this time about selling. He told us we would need to put in a new kitchen counter that wasn't laminate. We have newer appliances (stainless, 3 years old), and tile floor. Cabinet are also not that old. He also told us that we could take out our higher end appliances and put in new cheap ones and it would make no difference to overall sale price (I couldn't believe I could replace my 2k oven with a 200 dollar one and it would make no difference!)

I wouldn't do laminate counter tops. Home Depot has their own stuff they sell that is cheap, functional with a granite look --but better than granite because it is easier to maintain. I'd do something like that.

There is a Rustoluem product for cabinets and another one for counter tops. Our neighbors did their cabinets for less than $200 . They used the dark brown one . The cabinets look like new and modern. On the Rustoleum website,there are pictures people have sent in of their transformation. We are going to do ours this spring. Oh, and you don't have to sand anything =0)

They also have a product to make the hinges brushed nickel. Don't forget to number the cabinets AND the hinges.