Is Ductwork + HVAC a good investment for resale?

9 years ago

Hello,

I recently purchased a 2 story house built in 1910. I'm doing a lot of improvements to the home in hopes of selling it next year for a decent profit.

The house has electric baseboard heating, no HVAC or ductwork at all. The baseboard heaters have the temp. dial on the actual heater, there are no thermostats on the walls, so in order to change the temp you have to bend down to the baseboards and turn the dial on the heater, unfortunately.

I am wondering if investing in ductwork + HVAC would be a good investment for a home like this. It's located in the inland NW, it gets very hot in summer & cold in winter. I know that it's a large expense, probably 6 - 10K for ductwork, and then the cost of an AC unit & furnace on top of that = a lot of money. I will need to get some AC soon regardless, because it's starting to get hot, but I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to just get some wall units or standing room air conditioners....or should I bite the bullet and go for ductwork + AC + Furnace?

It's purely a matter of investment and whether this upgrade would likely yield a decent return. I know buyers definitely prefer central AC & Heating, but I wonder if I would be able to recoup any of that investment or if it's taken for granted that a home will have it so it would not really pay for itself? Am I making any sense? lol

I just don't want to spend many thousands of dollars on something that's not going to yield a good return.

Any advice would be helpful!

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Comments (7)

SaltiDawg
9 years ago
Is it the "norm" in your area for homes of your size/price to have A/C? Also, what is the "norm" for heat?
iris_bulb
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi, Yes, it is the norm for homes in this neighborhood to have central AC & Heating. The house is in the historical district of my city and the other houses are of a similar age - most all of them have central AC & Heat.
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tigerdunes
9 years ago
What would be the source of fuel for heating?

Post back.

IMO
mike_home
9 years ago
You are not going to get all the money you invest in the HVAC upgrade. How much you will get back is hard to determine. I would agree the HVAC should be within the expected norm for similar houses in the area. Otherwise it makes the house more difficult to sell. The buyer may use it as leverage to lower the price of the house.
iris_bulb
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for the responses.

The source of fuel would, I'm pretty certain, be natural gas.

Yes, I definitely don't think I will recoup the full expense of the upgrade, but I do feel like it's fairly important that my home be on equal footing with other listed homes in my neighborhood.

I'm also considering a Ductless Mini Split Multi-Zone system. Perhaps the efficiency & "state of the art" quality of a ductless system would be impressive to buyers...

I'll be calling Heating/Cooling people today to come out and take a look at my situation.
jakethewonderdog
9 years ago
A few points:

I think, as others have pointed out, that bringing your home up to the basic standard will not earn you a premium, but having electric baseboard heat will be used against you.

What can help you is if you do a high-efficiency furnace and A/C. Since you own the home, you may qualify for utility rebates on an energy star rated A/C unit. People are hip to the fact that an older home isn't as energy efficient -- so they appreciate an efficient furnace and A/C. What's also attractive to a new buyer is that the system is NEW and if they can get a transferable warranty on it. (I have a 10 year transferable parts and labor warranty on my HVAC and that's a selling point)

Also, check on state tax credits for all of the work you are doing because it's in a historic district. I get a 20% state tax credit.

A side note: if it's in a historic district don't mess it up doing things that you THINK are historic. I can't tell you how many house flippers have ruined homes in my neighborhood doing exactly that (replacing or moving doors or windows, for example). Don't guess - find out.

Or they do things to "fix up" an old house that are going to have to immediately be undone by anyone buying the house such as vinyl siding.

Or they do things like fix up the interior without doing mechanicals, so the new owner is going to have to open the walls that were just all skim coated and painted to add insulation, outlets and plumbing.
SaltiDawg
9 years ago
iris-bulb,

Your approach to evaluating alternatives seems good.

With regard to NG, in some situations the expense of bringing in NG from the street can be prohibitive. Do you have NG in the house already? (For cooking, hot water, or whatever.)