Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Property value with home theatre?

If I plan on selling my house with a home theatre including the speakers, receiver, projector, and screen will I be able to get out of it what I spent on it?

Any experience with this will be appreciated!

It MAY effect what I buy for the home theatre (QS4's instead of QS8s for example, don't need QS8s but for future proofing I would buy them).

Thanks in Advance!

-Hutz

Dont know for sure, but resale is the only real reason that we put a dedicated theater in the house im living in now. We arent planning on living there long. Never were. I chose pretty good equipment for one because I want it to last and because Its almost as if we're buying it on someone elses dime. Since when we sell the house and have to leave it all behind we'll have gotten our money back and then some.

Yes I did think about, well most people wont appreciate the equipment I put in, so why not use cheap stuff. But even if someone else cant appreciate it. We can. It will be sad to sell the house and leave all the equipment behind though.

So far for everyone that has come by our house, the theater is by far the most liked feature. Even though we are only projecting on a sheet and dont even have the surround hooked up yet they are still very impressed.

Heh,

I am a very optimistic guy. I want to get a home theatre for the room space that I have to build it in.

A part of me wants to future proof, but another part of me wants to order custom Axioms in the future for when my wife gets her dream house built. Like you I am not sure how long I will be in this house and where life will take me.

So in my 16 x 14 room, i really only need QS4s (for 7.1) and a VP100 or single M22 centre channel in order for it to sound killer.

I just may order the more conservative package in hopes that the future buyer will pay extra for the package deal.

-Hutz

I'm not sure, I know swimming pools do not always have a positive impact on the sale or price of a house. To get your money back I think you would have to find that one buyer in a thousand.

I would view Home Theatre the same way I view any material investment, buy what YOU like or enjoy. If it goes up great, if not it doesn't matter as you have had the enjoyment of owning it.

Just another thought. I would welcome a room I could use as a HT in my next home but at no point would I be interested in aquiring the electronics, I would want to provide my own. Not sure if I'm a typical buyer or not.

As with any product the only way to identify it's true worth is to put it on the market. Good luck.

I'm never parting with my Axioms, that is unless I get 80's and an EP600 some day. ha ha

Very doubtful you would get even 50% of your money back. My house is currently on the market, I've highlighted the fact that we have a media room, pre-wired for 6.1, and the room layout is optimzed for home theater. None of the prospective buyers seem to give a rats butt about home theater. You have to keep in mind we are a very small niche market. Most folks don't care about high end HT. They think a TV with tiny speakers randomly piled on top of it is a home theater system.

If people are into HT. I imagine that they would want to purchase their own set up, it's a huge long shot (IMHO) that you could find anyone who wants to buy your house, AND wants to pay full price for your HT gear.

Not to mention approves of the AV gear that you bought. Or the room layout you chose. Or the furnature. Or any number of other things.

Very interesting comments.

Thanks for all the replies and input!

-Hutz

I'd have to agree that you're unlikely to recoup additional investment at the point of resale.

Kitchens and Bathrooms sell houses. It's probably 50/50 that the space you adore as a home theatre will end up as "the kids playroom" or "the office".

I think the one exception might be if you have a very large luxury home (like 4000+ sf) where all of those other needs are already satisfied.

Just barely $0.02.

well, its a small house (1500sqft above grade) but the space is probably used the best out of any small layout I have seen.

The kitchen takes up half of the main floor (there is a kitchen, pantry, broom closet, washer/dryer room, 0.5 bath, and living room on the main floor).

The kitchen size is bigger than my wifes parents 3000sqft home kitchen. It is the feature that sold the house for my wife haha.

We have 3 beds up stairs and 2 full baths, downtairs we have a full bath, a den, and my theatre room.

So the house IS pretty small. It is a starter home, but hey, I bought a starter home with a theatre in mind. Every house I looked at the only thing I cared about was the basement layout!

The only thing my wife cared about was the kitchen. So I am assuming alot of couples my age (20 - 25 yrs old) will want the same things.

-Hutz

A home theater is an "up-market" feature that many buyers in the entry home market don't even consider. And when it comes with price premium, I have a distinct feeling most would rather do without. You have to sell to your market. People who can afford top pay the extra money will often go for a larger house or a different neighborhood -- unless that one-in-a-thousand buyer finds you.

This topic has come up in the past, and a number of people, myself included, had sold a house that had a home theater in it. It did pretty much nothing for the sale price of the house, but did help to sell the house faster.

So there is some value, but not as easy to figure out as you may think, and it will be no where near the amount you put into it.

I would just get items that you want to take with you, and build the room so that it can be used as something else if you are concerned about it.

To me, I know that I am not going to be at my current house for 20 years or anything, but if it was feasable with money and space, I would still build an awesome home theater as far as room construction, etc, even knowing that it wouldn't add much value outside of just finished square footage. Most buyers just don't know the value of the equipment, and it is a "perk" that they may want, but don't care to pay extra for. And those buyers that DO understand the value of it, most likely will have their own gear, or want something a little different anyway.

So, just buy some awesome gear, and never sell it!

We'll probably be in this house for quite a while and considered the resale issues prior to building our TV/music room and adding the pool but decided that happiness while living in the home should account for something ... for the short amount of time that both have been added to our home I must say the expenditure was well worth it regardless whether or not we'll ever recoup any of the cost in resale.

I like the comparison made in regards to a house with a pool. Some people want it while others don't.

I think that if there's a few similar houses in your area, and in the same price range it may be the deciding factor.

As for selling the equipement, I would only personally use this as a negotiating item. If I could get good value out of it sure, or for example less hassle of moving an older RPTV.

On the other side of it, I really couldn't see myself wanting to buy someone elses equipement. I would need to know what it is (recognize the name) know the age and value. Granted, there's tons of people out there who love HTIB and may see your set up and just want the house because of it.

Sounds like you have the newer version of my house! Very common in Calgary. I wouldn't consider 1500sqft a starter house. It is big enough for 2 kids to enter the picture soon. My wife and I bought our house thinking it large enough to handle our family dreams and it has so far(large pie shaped lot). The neighborhood influences your resale value more than anything else. Then lot size etc. whether or not your house has a home theater is too personal a choice for most buyers, as it has been my experience that they can't see the walls for the furniture sitting in front of them. If a prospective buyer doesn't like the way you have laid out your furniture in the room and it seems small to them you have lost them. Rearrange that same room with a more open feeling and now that buyer is happy. It seems that most just have no imagination to see what the room WILL be like with THEIR stuff in it. Ever watch those "Sell my house" shows on TV. Those people are the proof that alot of people have little vision to what a house could be.

Just remember a bigger house means more to clean and less time to enjoy the sweeter things in life, unless you get maid service.

Don't forget higher cost to heat/cool.
Higher taxes(bigger houses are usually valued higher).

I wish I would have bought a smaller house, 2400 sq/ft is a lot for 3 people. The game room which was supposed to be a home theater by now sits empty with a few odds and ends scattered about. Oh well it was a "starter" home as they say. I know exactly what to get the next time around.

>>Oh well it was a "starter" home as they say. I know exactly what to get the next time around.

2400 sqft a starter home? Do you live in Giant Land?

In any case, I am glad that I bought in calgary before the boom last year, then sold the condo, and upgraded to a house and almost put 21% down...

We bought at the right place a the right time last year.

We also went from puting 5% down, to 21% down...now I can practice my drums downstairs...then take a break and goto the theatre...

Man I can't wait until its all done!

-Hutz

Everything is bigger in Texas