Shopping Around

When you get serious about a particular area, find out which options are the most popular. You don't want to overimprove because people aren't going to pay for it. The selling agents should be very upfront about it; but, also go around and ask the neighbors what they [looked for when they bought]. Ask them what they would do differently next time around. You'll learn a whole lot about what people look at in that area. You want a house that's not greatly better or greatly worse [than the local norm] because you're always going to be competing with other houses on the market. An example? We moved to Michigan from southern California. Well, nobody has a basement in southern California, so we bought a house in Michigan with no basement. When we later put it on the market, we found out that people in Michigan want basements. It took us eight years to sell that house.

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What if you really want something that most homeowners would never want, like a closet just for baseball bats?

You can get an option that you really love. Say you invest $5,000 in a really elaborate closet organization system or a whirlpool bath, but five years from now, investors won't pay extra for it. If you really enjoy it, you'll get utility out of it but you won't get it back in resale.

Which upgrades or extra options are likely to help with resale value in any market?

Upgrading the kitchen is always a good idea. Things like granite or engineered-stone countertops, cabinets with pull-out [not fixed] shelves for increased ease of use or frameless cabinets for increased storage space. Stainless steel appliances are huge. They used to only be for rich people. Most builders will offer wall cabinets up to the ceiling for extra storage.