I don't know how big your kitchen is in terms of cabinets, but $10k wouldn't go very far is re-doing a kitchen. If I were buying and the kitchen was falling apart (which it sounds like this one is), I'd mentally budget at least twice that for a new kitchen. We remodeled a kitchen over *TEN* years ago as a do-it-yourself job with RTA cabinets--and spent about $10k.

I don't know what type of kitchens other houses in your neighborhood have, but I'd be considering doing something with it that would at least make the kitchen acceptable.

How is the rest of the house? If the kitchen is the only eyesore I'd be more inclined to redo it than if it's in line with the age & condition of the rest of the house.

The other consideration is what's your competition look like? If you're the worst, then your house will sit a while or else be lowballed. If it's in line with the rest of the neighborhood, then you might be ok leaving it.

If I were a buyer, I'd rather put my own kitchen in, but I'm not every buyer. There are many out there who wouldn't even consider a ramshackle kitchen. So I think it's probably a better bet to put a decent kitchen in before you list it.

The average kitchen remodel is now around 40K. If you can stand losing that as a buyer's deduction, then leave it as is. But even if you do a budget kitchen, there's no way that 5K will get one done, even if you do all of the labor yourself. Maybe, if the place isn't large, you can get halfway decent cabinets for that, but not counters, sink faucet, flooring, appliances, etc.

How can new cupboards be $40,000?? We had nice IKEA ones put in at our old home for less than $8,000.

I have 12 ft of new IKEA cabinets, with counter tops, sink for $1500.00 Bought faucet at Home Depot for less than $150.00. Kept two cabs that were in decent shape and painted them.

What are the dimensions of your kitchen?

Take a look at other homes in your area that are for sale in the same price range.
Are they fixer uppers or have they been updated and made to look picture perfect? If you want to sell in todays market you have to compete with the inventory that is out there.
Generally speaking a kitchen that needs fixing will turn folks off because it is a big ticket item to fix or replace and most don't want to deal with it on top of purchasing a house.
You could try selling as is but you may lose your chance to make a good first impression and reduce your buyer pool.

I would really seriously check out the cost to get the name cabinets and other work done. Assuming that the cost was acceptable to you I would replace the cabinets.

We recently sold a house and are in the market to buy. I am crossing off the list any house that requires any significant remodeling or that needs TLC, etc. The most I will consider is replacing countertops since that is usually fairly simple (DH wants to cross those houses off the list as well) but I would not consider a house where I had to do new cabinets.

The market for folks wiling to purchase and then upgrade is not the same as folks looking top buy a house ad move in.

Fewer buyers are wiling to purchase a place that needs a lot of work.

You cut out a large portion of the buyers with a poor property condition, and attract the 'bargain hunters' (sometimes called 'bottom feeders.').

If you want top dollar you need to have a house in good condition, or at least better than the other houses at the same price point.

I had a sale go through because the buyer loved the automatic light circuit in the pantry and the multiple shallow shelves.

open the door and the ceiling mounted puck lights turned on.

Close the door the lights are off.

The buyer was still talking about it at the settlement table.

You can do alot for less than $10. Google RTA cabinets in your area. They are becoming common. You can buy appliances for little.
I just bought new cabs for $3k.

I think your kitchen budget is going to depend on the value of the home - $10k would go a long way in a $150k (or less) house - assuming this is just a facelift and not major demo. Assuming you have that, I would vote for the simple RTA or Ikea route, plus a nicer new laminate countertop, new builder-grade or HD-level appliances. I think you would get more return on that than offering a credit. People don't want to do the work, or they wonder what else they would have to fix. If it's livable, but not to their taste, that is usually viewed more favorably by potential buyers.

Can you post some photos or more info? Have you looked at your competition?

If the kitchen is in that bad a condition and the house would otherwise go for about $500K, I don't think a typical buyer would look at a credit of $5-10K and think that was okay. My guess is they'd be looking for $25-50K or more before they would want to undertake a remodel. And that would be a buyer who wanted to do a remodel. Might as well get some enjoyment out of the process and the results and do it now.

Doing wood bases and white uppers doesn't bother me and I don't think it is as trendy a look as others. It is a look a lot of people wouldn't do (probably because they would be afraid of it), but I doubt it is a look that many would not buy.

Look at what others have done on a budget here for inspiration. Seek out the IKEA and recycled kitchens. Take the time to check out Craig's List, Habitat's ReSale and other sources for deals and finds. Keep a plan in mind so that you might seize a fun find but still avoid a mishmash of unrelated stuff. Make it fun and make the new kitchen fit your house and your taste as already reflected in the house. If you over-neutralize it could be blah and boring compared to the rest of the house.

We bought an older house (50's) last year. One of the things that attracted us to it was that it was in a great location on a nice chunk of land. We'd looked at many places that needed updating but this place was clean, freshly painted and ready to move into.

The stove, fridge and sink were new but the cabinets and (color of) countertop weren't. They are older but in reasonably good condition.

If we were buying again, I'd want an allowance off the price to put in our own cabinets rather than have the seller do this for us.

You could always go the cheap Ikea doors route, and market them as "ready to be personalized" since it's almost nothing to switch out the doors, and the cheapest doors there are less than the hinges.

"Google RTA cabinets in your area. They are becoming common."

They are a low price point.

Make sure you are better than the competition (other houses at your price point).

I would do a remodel if the kitchen is in as horrible shape as you say. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to do it, but it would probably get you more money when you decide to sell. Quite frankly the money you would offer for a credit on the kitchen would not be enough for me. Whenever we were looking for houses to buy we dinged off money on what we believed it would take to redo a room. Not what the sellers thought. NancyLouise

I would look into Ikea cabinets. Here's why:

Buyers who really want a drop-dead gorgeous, chef's perfect kitchen probably know they'll need to renovate to get exactly what they want. But in the meantime they need to live with what is there. Your current kitchen doesn't sound liveable.

When someone has a poorly maintained kitchen it casts doubt on everything else in the house. The logic is, "If they let the kitchen go to hell, imagine what the furnace & foundation & everything else looks like! This place is probably a money pit."

There is only 1 kitchen in a house. This makes it tougher for buyers to remodel because unlike bathrooms, where there is often a bathroom to use while the other one gets torn apart, there is no "other kitchen" to use during a reno. This was my logic when we chose a house with an updated kitchen and 2 outdated baths.

I really think a decent Ikea kitchen would be a smart investment for you in the current situation. And it can be done reasonably cheaply if you can invest a lot of time. The Kitchens forum here has good examples of people who've used Ikea boxes and doors from another manufacturer if you don't like the look of Ikea doors.

Thanks everyone. I think I'll do the remodel but go with RTA rather than IKEA - I can not bring myself to put any particle/fiber board into the kitchen after my last two. I've got an IKEA shelf set and they sag even without a lot of weight on them.

I agree with what you say about the kitchen putting the whole house in a bad light. When we bought, the kitchen looked good but the bathrooms were bad and really put me off, but it was a seller's market then so we went ahead and bought, and I've since redone the bathrooms.

There are some nice looking RTA's out there. Regardless of your price point, getting inexpensive but nice looking cabs and appliances to replace what you describe, will only improve your chance of selling. It will be livable, if one isn't a gourmet cook, the buyer won't care much. I've never liked my kitchen, and I love to cook, but it was one year old and acceptable so I've lived with it.
I think the RTA I found is nicer and lower priced than IKEA.

IKEA kitchen cabinets are nothing like their furniture. Check out this recent IKEA kitchen posted in the kitchen forum. The poster bought doors from a third party.

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA + walnut doors

I've checked out IKEA cabinets in their stores. Did not like the materials used in the box construction, did not like the side-to-side shimmy of the drawers, did not like the plastic drawer bodies, did not like the veneer over fiberboard doors. Love their Poang chairs, okay with one of their couches I have, but those are bent wood construction not fiberboard.

"When someone has a poorly maintained kitchen it casts doubt on everything else in the house. "

There is a lot of distance between old, out of style, and just worn, and "poorly maintained".

Instead of offering a credit, just lower the price when you sell.

In the meantime, do what you need to to make the kitchen usable for you. Check into used kitchen cabinets from Habitat for Humanity and Craigslist.

Also ana-white.com has a beginnning series on building your own face frame cabinets ... she estimates it will be about $100 per unit but solid plywood, screwed and glued.

"Also ana-white.com has a beginnning series on building your own face frame cabinets ... she estimates it will be about $100 per unit but solid plywood, screwed and glued."

Unless someone already has a full blown wood shop, and lots of experience with furniture making, this idea won't fly.

ncrealestateguy - She's doing it with this tool set ... http://ana-white.com/2011/12/momplex/tooling-kitchen-cabinets

A drill
A pockethole jig
a table saw
A compound miter saw
a circular saw

Not exactly a full-blown wood shop is it?

It's the "lack of experience" part that would keep most homeowners from being able to do this themselves.