It’s important in today’s housing market to gain any advantage you can when it comes time to sell your home. Your kitchen can make the difference between a home that sells quickly and one that stays on the market.

A kitchen isn’t just the place where we eat and prepare food. We spend time with our family there; we use our kitchens to entertain guests; they are often the focal piece to a family room.

And when it comes time to sell your home, your kitchen becomes the showpiece of your house. Think about it this way: Virtually every guest who comes into your home will see or enter your kitchen. The same holds true for prospective buyers. That’s why an updated kitchen will help a home sell faster.

Renovations, labor intensive, but worth it. A kitchen can be the most expensive room in a house to update and/or renovate, and the extensive labor involved can last for weeks and months at a time. In other words, you’re not just adding a layer of paint and keeping the area clean.

Duration and costs will fluctuate depending on the work involved. Overall, though, renovations will last anywhere from a week to months, and the cost to update flooring, tiling, cabinets, counters and appliances will cost at least Ten Thousand dollars – often times much more.

Why not include a renovation allowance? The reason, Realtors say, is that most prospective homeowners want a ready-to-move-in kitchen. Potential buyers don’t want to deal with the hassle of renovating or updating a kitchen.

How much is too much? Know your neighborhood before doing any renovations – especially your kitchen. If homes in your neighborhood are selling for Two Hundred Thousand dollars with nice, functional kitchens, for example, then you don’t need to spend Fifty Thousand dollars worth of renovations and upgrades. Doing so, in fact, could hinder potential sales. The reason is simple: You don’t want to price yourself out of the market.