I've been watching too much HDTV. A general question about kitchen remodels. I don't have the budget to gut my kitchen, but this year I would like to add value to the room. How much in return to you get from an update versus a remodel. As in my previous post, I will more than likely have to buy a new dishwasher appliance in 6 months, but the oven and refrigerator are newer appliances. What I'm thinking of doing is ripping out the corian countertops and replacing with granite, then painting the cabinets and adding new pull knobs.

Since I'm new at this, what would the job of demo'ing the old corian and replacing the granite top be? My kitchen has an island and then one standard countertop area so it's not very large. It just seems like too , that all the big kitchen remodeling companies will only do the really big $75000 jobs. Am I better off getting a handyman to do such a small job? I would be doing my own painting and it's really just the granite that I would need professionally done.

Would this new countertop alone bring huge value to my home or are realtors finding that the return is relatively small for just hear and there updates? :)

Your handuman is not likely going to be a good granite installer. Get a few estimates from local pros, many will do small jobs and not stick it to you. You could also consider just cabinet refacing over painting or just new doors. Granite does add valve to your home but it isn't going to add $10K to your home if the granite job was only $2K, you'll get your money out of it but not make a huge profit.

Let me put it this way, if your house is valued at $200,000 and you add $4000 in countertops is your house now worth $204,000... no. its actually worth little to nother more, but what you have done is given a possible buyer more reason to want your house.
I wouldn't look at it as adding value as much as I would look at it as just an improvement.
added value will come from adding square footage as well as turning a basement into living space

Thanks for the posts. I think Glavine is right, it will put a possible buyer in a mood to buy with a kitchen that is updated versus a comparable home without an updated kitchen. But I do think you can ask for more money with the small investment in a re-do. If I spend $5000 in kitchen improvements and it looks fantastic and I can write "updated" in a realtor description that has to be of value to a potential buyer. I don't think square footage is the rule of thumb in terms of price, as many buyers want to move into a home that's great from the start without having to improve a room. Yes, there are buyers that are only interested in size of rooms, but if they must paint, add new appliances and so on, they're not going to pay top dollar regardless of the square footage. Thanks again for your posts as you all had some interesting points.

I think Glavine gives good advise but may be stating the worst case scenarion.If you have a nice house that is not in need of repair or extensive painting and you add a $4k granite counter top you have increased the value of the home and may get a better selling price. It is just very hard to prove since you don't have a control sale of an equal house without a new counter. If you watch Flip This House on DISH you will see them adding a hardword floor for $1000 and then say added value $1500. I have done some flips and that is how we calculate our budgets. As Glavine has also stated you have given the buyer one more reason to pick your home over another. The biggest question you need to ask yourself is are you updating to sell or updating because you want your kitchen to function better and be more appealing to you.