Sellers routinely spend twenty thousand dollars on a kitchen to add twelve thousand to the sale price. The renovation was not wrong; the timing was.
Buyers in this market discount visibly for condition and pay flat for finish. Paint, light fixtures, a tidy front yard and a deep clean move the number because they change the first ten seconds. A new range does not.
The exception is anything a lender or an inspector will flag. Roof, HVAC and plumbing are not upgrades, they are removals of a reason to walk away.
