IT DEPENDS.

When people hear that I am a real estate appraiser, invariably I will get a question such as "I am thinking of remodelling my kitchen/bath/what have you" followed by the real question "Will this make my house more valuable?"

I can confidently answer each and every one of these queries in the same way:

It Depends.

This is not a very satisfying answer to most people, but it is truthful.

A woman in my town recently confided in me that she had found a great deal on replacement windows for her house built in the mid-1970s. $900 per window, installed! Some quick mental math for the 26 windows came up with $23,400 for the installation. The interior mouldings needed to be re-installed and repainted, and so I would guess she was out a couple grand to pay the painter who needed a couple of weeks to complete all this interior work. We will call it $25,000.

As an appraiser, I would have rated her original windows as adequate. They were mid-quality windows in reasonable condition. The old ones were a bit drafty and a few did stick. The new ones looked good, especially with fresh paint. But was the house now worth $25,000 more because of the windows? No it wasn't. Sure this woman would get the benefit of enjoying the newer more efficient windows, but in this particular real estate market a prospective buyer was not likely to pay $25,000 more for the house just because there were new windows.

In this instance I was lucky in that I was just an acquaintance and not acting as an appraiser. I didn't have to tell this woman about the real economics of her remodelling project.

Often times, I am the messenger bearing bad news. I have some equally bad stories involving expensive vinyl fences, high end landscaping, swimming pools, custom cabinetry, and exotic hardwoods flooring.

Now that the real estate markets are cooling, some of these poor choices may come back to haunt homeowners when it comes time to sell. Only time will tell.