Totally relate to your experience—went through something similar myself. A couple years back, we tapped into our equity to redo our kitchen. We went all out: quartz countertops, custom cabinets, the works. It looked amazing, and we loved cooking in it, but when we decided to sell, reality hit pretty hard.
- Turns out, buyers in our neighborhood weren't really looking for high-end kitchens. Most were young families or first-time buyers who cared more about overall affordability.
- We did get some positive feedback, but nowhere near the return we'd imagined.
- Lesson learned: upgrades should match the neighborhood and buyer expectations. It's easy to get swept up in Pinterest dreams and HGTV fantasies, but market realities are a different story.
Still, I don't regret it entirely. We enjoyed the kitchen while we lived there, and sometimes that's worth something too...right?
Been there too—it's so easy to get carried away with the dream upgrades. One thing I've learned is to look around your neighborhood first and see what's typical for your area. If most homes have laminate counters, going all-in on marble probably won't pay you back. But hey, enjoying your own home counts for something...life's too short to cook in a kitchen you don't love, right?
Totally agree about matching upgrades to your neighborhood, but sometimes a little splurge can set your home apart—in a good way. Maybe not marble everywhere, but what about quartz? Durable, classy, and still feels luxurious without going overboard...just a thought.
Quartz is definitely a solid choice—I've used it in several builds and clients always love it. But sometimes, even a small splurge can snowball into bigger expenses. Ever had a minor upgrade turn into a major budget headache...?
Totally relate to this. We started out just upgrading our bathroom vanity... next thing you know, we're knee-deep in a full remodel because "since we're already doing this, might as well do that." Budgets have a sneaky way of spiraling fast, haha.
