Are you building the place for yourself or "other people" ?

Is this a speculative build ?

Are you going to rent the place ?

What's going to be the nightly rate?

What do other 1.5m + homes around have in them.

What do you have at your primary residence ?

What do you want in the ski house ?

$100k is a lot of money, but so is $1m. however.................

10% of a home's value in a kitchen is not over the top at all.

Perspective:

most people don't have 2nd homes. Of those that do, many don't spend a million and a half on them. Those that do spend that kind of money rarely care what everyone else has or thinks about what should go into their vacation home.

It sounds like you intend to use the property yourself (correct me if I'm wrong). It sounds like there may be a year-round contingent in your new gated community. If so, and you are concerned with resale down the road, I would be sure to check out the comp listings or consult with a realtor to find out the finish expectations.

In our nearest comparable area, the Incline Village area of Lake Tahoe, it is not uncommon to see standard kitchens in $1M+ homes. The newer remodels and spec builds are kitted out pretty well.

Looking at comps in the neighborhood is always a good idea.

5-12% of the value of the home is a good range depending on how important the kitchen is to you.

If planning to sell in the foreseeable future I would spend somewhere in the middle of that. Maybe 8% or so.

For reference

the average kitchen remodel in the USA is $56k

the average "high end" kitchen remodel is $112k

According to the NKBA, it is the professional designers guild.

Thanks. All good suggestions. Yes, we are planning this as our retirement home of which we will live in at least half the year and we want to be able to sell it down the road. I think I was getting a little cold feet as I was adding up all the great appliances I wanted :) Like most people, I'm hoping to have a champagne house on a beer budget and yes I realize that this is probably wishful thinking. Nice to see some percentages. Good food for thought

Feel good with the thought that if you were upgrading a medium grade kitchen in an existing house to a high-end kitchen, the cost would be even higher due to having to rip stuff out, run new power cables where it is hard to get to them, replumb where it is now awkward to reach, floor joists may have to be strengthened depending on changes in supported weight, and/or required stiffness (for certain stone flooring), ceiling may be raised, new hood ducting run, an MUA system would have to be added without an aesthetic disaster, ...

Thanks for reminding me and ruining my day :)

kas

Which resort ? That can make a huge diff. too

$1.5m at Keystone or Big Sky is high cotton.

1.5m in Deer Valley or Aspen is low rent / slummin it, so that detail matters, and influences what "other people" might at purchase time.

If you are living there a significant portion of the year - get what you want and are comfortable spending on.

You'll drive yourself crazy trying to game the market for resale. Even the professionals can't and won't give you a pat answer on what to put in there for that. Besides, it's almost a certainty that you will not recoup the xtra spend on luxury appliances / finishes now when you go to sell in 3,5, 10 years. They may make it easier for you to sell faster though.

The main draw is that you stack the odds in your favor to not have to replace stuff during ownership AND you'll get greater satisfaction of use and ownership now. As a sheer financial play, it makes little sense.

Do it for yourself and spend what you need/can to get what you want. Our kitchen remodel was over 10% of the "value" of the home at the time and worth every penny because I use it and enjoy it...it's not for looks, but our personal use. Since you are using it for retirement, I suppose immediatae resale is not your primary concern. Yes, I have put more into kitchens in two of our previous homes than the actual construction warranted, and did not recoup the actual cost, but I do think they may have helped sell the home quicker vs. a builder's quality kitchen.