"Loaded with upgrades!" How many times have you seen a similar statement in real estate ads or Multiple Listings only to discover the "upgrades" consist of:

• New roof
• New furnace
• Freshly painted
• New water heater
• New carpet throughout
• New bathtub in master
• New kitchen appliances
• New windows
• New electrical system
• New garage door and opener

Folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news…but these items are NOT upgrades. They are things we do to maintain our homes in their normal condition (or bring a house UP to normal condition in the case of old houses or distress sales). Things wear out or get outdated.  They need to be replaced.  We need to do it whether we plan to sell the home or stay there forever.

They may make your home more desirable over a home that has 'deferred maintenance,' but they do not add any value in the way of money.  And you can't add the cost of this maintenance to the price of your home and expect to get it back.

So what is an upgrade?  It is defined as "to raise to a higher grade or standard."  So if we go back to our list above, upgrades that could enhance the value of a home might look like this:

• New roof  (40 year, top-of-the-line cedar shake roof with pressure-impregnated fire retardant and transferable warranty)
• New furnace (high efficiency, high-conductivity radiant warm board heating system installed in 2007)
• New ceiling fans (Casablanca 'Aged Bronze' Atria ceiling fans in every room)
• Freshly painted (interior professionally painted with Benjamin Moore's low VOC 'Aura' formula)
• New water heater (new high-efficiency, tankless heat-on-demand water heater)
• New carpet throughout (Mohawk high-density, plush wool carpet throughout)
• New bathtub in master (jetted Jacuzzi tub in master)
• New kitchen appliances (Bosch ultra-quiet dishwasher, Viking gas stove with warming drawer, sub-zero refrigerator)
• New windows (windows replaced with Pella energy star windows)
• New electrical system (200 amp service and "one touch" whole house back-up generator)
• New garage door and opener (Cloypay insulated carriage house garage door with whisper quiet opener)

You get the idea?  Think of home maintenance as the things your mother would make you do that you didn't want to do.  Think of upgrades as the "wish I could have that" things you daydream about.  It's the upgrades that enhance the value of your home - not normal maintenance.