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We are going to replace our oil furnace in the coming weeks. We can replace the current system with something similar for about $7500, or we can upgrade to a more efficient, higher quality system that would cost between $11,000 and $12,000. We have been considering selling our home in a year or two to move to a new town. Is it worth it to go with the higher end furnace or will the $4,000 we pay extra not be able to be re-gained in the selling price of the house?
We are going to replace our oil furnace in the coming weeks. We can replace the current system with something similar for about $7500, or we can upgrade to a more efficient, higher quality system that would cost between $11,000 and $12,000. We have been considering selling our home in a year or two to move to a new town. Is it worth it to go with the higher end furnace or will the $4,000 we pay extra not be able to be re-gained in the selling price of the house?
I would say it's not worth the extra investment, the buyer probably won't ascribe too much of a premium. The best investments you can make are always adding a bedroom and modernizing the kitchen
If you are in a good location you don't need to be dumping money into your home in this market. As for high-end furnaces....they cost more to fix and if you have a problem you might need to hire someone who has experience in fixing them instead of just a local contractor. I would not want the hassle. A mid-level, new system is good enough IMO. It's new & shiny & folks coming to look at your property are going to love it.
Last edited by Brave Stranger; 03-22-2016 at 02:13 PM..
Is converting to natural gas an option? That would be a worthwhile investment. If you have to stick with oil I'd probably just get the cheapest furnace that will do the job.
I wouldn't even replace the old furnace if it's still working. That's what I'd do if I could do it all over again. I spent tens of thousands replacing my furnace, roof, doors, and a few windows in the couple years prior to moving. It was like throwing money down the drain.
Is converting to natural gas an option? That would be a worthwhile investment. If you have to stick with oil I'd probably just get the cheapest furnace that will do the job.
Unfortunately no, it is not available on our street.
I wouldn't even replace the old furnace if it's still working. That's what I'd do if I could do it all over again. I spent tens of thousands replacing my furnace, roof, doors, and a few windows in the couple years prior to moving. It was like throwing money down the drain.
You say you've just been *considering* moving, in a year or two. That seems pretty loose. You may benefit some in the interim if you have a better, more efficient furnace. And if you decide not to move, you will benefit immensely from the furnace.
As a buyer, I would really like it if there was the highest quality furnace. However, most buyers won't care. We put in a very high quality HVAC system in our house just under two years ago. We had to put our house on the market and sell a few months ago. Although we wanted the new HVAC system touted, the realtor didn't play it up much. It didn't really add much value to the house.
It could sell your house more quickly, and would be a nice selling feature, but at the end of the day, I doubt it will really add enough value. I don't think you'd get any more money for the house than if you put in the crappiest furnace out there. If people are swayed at all, it's just by "newer furnace, added 2016." Most buyers, if they pay attention at all, won't go beyond that level.
So if you're really firm on selling and looking solely at resale, then no, you won't likely see a benefit. BUT, if you're in the house for more than 1-2 years, you might, in other ways.
I wouldn't even replace the old furnace if it's still working. That's what I'd do if I could do it all over again. I spent tens of thousands replacing my furnace, roof, doors, and a few windows in the couple years prior to moving. It was like throwing money down the drain.
We did similar renovations on our last home- replaced all of the windows, new insulated front door, had insulation blown in and a solid membrane roof put over our screened in porch to prevent ice and water damage, rebuilt the front step. All a total waste in resale. We should have just done a bit of painting and upgraded the bathrooms.
So I'd say if you plan to sell soon choose the least expensive furnace option- buyers will not care as long as they like your kitchen and the paint on the walls.
I wouldn't even replace the old furnace if it's still working. That's what I'd do if I could do it all over again. I spent tens of thousands replacing my furnace, roof, doors, and a few windows in the couple years prior to moving. It was like throwing money down the drain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadstrailstris
We did similar renovations on our last home- replaced all of the windows, new insulated front door, had insulation blown in and a solid membrane roof put over our screened in porch to prevent ice and water damage, rebuilt the front step. All a total waste in resale. We should have just done a bit of painting and upgraded the bathrooms.
So I'd say if you plan to sell soon choose the least expensive furnace option- buyers will not care as long as they like your kitchen and the paint on the walls.
Sounds like you both were watching too much HGTV.
Seriously though, unless you're adding square footage and hopefully additional bedrooms and/or bathrooms then I wouldn't bother if you're thinking you're going to sell. Upgrading existing features will certainly help your home sell, but it won't add in value what it costs to do provided the item being replaced is functional.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz
You say you've just been *considering* moving, in a year or two. That seems pretty loose. You may benefit some in the interim if you have a better, more efficient furnace. And if you decide not to move, you will benefit immensely from the furnace.
As a buyer, I would really like it if there was the highest quality furnace. However, most buyers won't care. We put in a very high quality HVAC system in our house just under two years ago. We had to put our house on the market and sell a few months ago. Although we wanted the new HVAC system touted, the realtor didn't play it up much. It didn't really add much value to the house.
It could sell your house more quickly, and would be a nice selling feature, but at the end of the day, I doubt it will really add enough value. I don't think you'd get any more money for the house than if you put in the crappiest furnace out there. If people are swayed at all, it's just by "newer furnace, added 2016." Most buyers, if they pay attention at all, won't go beyond that level.
So if you're really firm on selling and looking solely at resale, then no, you won't likely see a benefit. BUT, if you're in the house for more than 1-2 years, you might, in other ways.
As you point out, a high end feature is a nice selling point but it's not going to add significant additional value and chances are someone isn't going to pass on your house because you have a no name furnace vs. an American Standard, Trane, or some other name brand unit.
Personally, I'm a little more sensitive to this stuff than the average home buyer because I've been at a million home inspections. I put a high efficiency boiler in my house and when I look at houses with my clients I look to see if there is a high efficiency or a name brand system in the house. Whenever I point these things out to my clients though the response I usually get is "oh . . . is that a good brand?" or "oh . . . high efficiency . . . is that good?"
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