Yeah, kitchens can definitely swing things a bit, especially if your market's hot on upgrades. Had a similar experience—swapped out some ancient laminate counters for quartz, and suddenly the appraisal gods smiled upon me. But honestly, I've also seen appraisers barely blink at pricey kitchen renos. Makes me wonder, does anyone think bathrooms might actually give kitchens a run for their money when it comes to appraisal bumps? Seems like opinions vary wildly on that one...
Interesting point about bathrooms. When we bought our first place, the previous owners had just redone the master bath—nothing extravagant, but tasteful updates like new tile and fixtures. Surprisingly, the appraisal came back higher than expected... maybe bathrooms are underrated?
We had the opposite experience—redid our guest bath thinking it'd boost value, but appraisal barely budged. Maybe it depends more on neighborhood comps or something? Seems like bathrooms can be hit or miss...
Had a similar thing happen last year—updated our kitchen thinking it'd bump the appraisal enough to ditch PMI. Nope, barely moved the needle. Appraiser said it's mostly about comps and square footage in our area, not cosmetic upgrades. Makes me wonder if certain neighborhoods just have a ceiling on value no matter what you do inside...
Went through something similar a couple years back. Dropped a chunk of cash on new flooring and bathrooms thinking it'd boost the appraisal—barely budged. Learned the hard way it's mostly about square footage, comps, and neighborhood trends. Cosmetic stuff helps sell faster maybe, but doesn't always raise appraisal value much. Seems like some neighborhoods just hit a ceiling no matter how nice your kitchen backsplash is...lesson learned, I guess.
