I suppose in today's current market, there is no rule of thumb. If your property is similar to other properties also for sale in the area, your value would be higher with a larger updated kitchen. If you plan on increasing the square footage in your kitchen, you will have a seller's advantage in comparison to the "like" properties in your area. The kitchen is definitely where you want to spend your money!

Lynham,

Agreeing with Dp's comment "an updated will often sell for more than one that hasn't been updated, " understand that updating that kitchen or bath may not necessarily net you 100% return on your update investment (see NAHB's annual Cost vs Value reports), but help faciliate a quicker sale.

I'm not sure. Even if there were such a rule of thumb, I suspect many appraisers aren't using it, because there's so much volatility in the pricing of homes right now. Having stated that, an updated will often sell for more than one that hasn't been updated, and you'll get more bang for you bucks on updating a kitchen and bathroom than you will get on updating pretty much everything else.

An inspector, appraiser, and/or GC should be able to give you a good idea of what you need to spend, and they should also be able to help ensure that you don't overspend (on stuff that really won't add much value).