Selling a house with a serious home theater? (1 Viewer)

[Neil Weinstock]

I was just wondering what happens when you go to sell a house with a really fancy home theater install. It must be a strange experience. What equipment do you leave, and what do you take with you? How do you assess the value? What do potential buyers think?
Just wondering...

 

[RAF]

While I have no plans of moving from my house during the remaining years of my life this question did come up during the construction phase of my HT project. The general consensus among friends who know about such things was that since I was making so much of the HT a "permanent" part of the structure (all the electrical upgrades, fixtures, wiring, as well as the built-in shelving, etc. etc.) this would definitely add value to the house during resale. And, with appreciation of real estate in general, the value of the additional installation would probably outpace any depreciation involved.
In other words, when I use my "HT instead of a BMW" argument to defend spending the amount of money I did on my HT there is a certain amount of validity to pointing out that not only do you have the depreciation that comes with an automobile purchase, but you could also make a strong argument that a permanent HT installation also offers appreciable appreciation (pun intended).
My guiding philosophy was to sink some of the serious money into those things that would, more or less, be considered permanent fixtures since you would really be only having these expenditures once and you could probably recoup most of them if you chose to move later on.
All the "transient" stuff (the audio and video equipment) will, of course change as the years go by, but that's the nature of the game of course, and something we constantly deal with. The fact that I've not made any significant upgrade to any equipment in the bast 6 months is something that even surprises me, but I'm sure that this will change as new toys become available.
I've strayed a bit from the original question, but I think, in a nutshell, that the answer to the resale value of a permanent HT installation depends on the quality of the installation, the current market conditions, the interest in HT on the part of potential buyers and the amount of time flexibility that the seller has. While this doesn't provide a stock answer for every situation I'm confident that in the majority of cases an investment in HT will be an asset rather than a liability.
(No, I'm not selling, and if I were, I already have 2 or 3 neighbors who want first crack at my home)

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RAF
[Demented Video Dude since 1997]
[Computer Maven since 1956]
["PITA" since 1942]
Link Removed

 

[MickeS]

I think a home theater CAN add value to a home, but I also think it's harder to sell a house with a dedicated HT than a house without it, at least currently.
It's a very specialized room (if it's a dedicated HT), and most buyers are not willing to pay extra for it. They might even want to pay less, since they have to remodel.
However, if you advertise in the right place, I'm sure there are HT enthusiasts like those in this forum that would be willing to pay a premium for a nice HT.
Either way, when the time comes to sell, you will probably have enjoyed it enough that the cost was worth it anyway. Like RAF points out, compared to an expensive car a HT is cheap and doesn't depreciate very much (excluding some equipment).
/Mike

 

[Kyle-K]

I think its along the lines of a swimming pool...
Whether it hurts or helps your home value depends on whether or not the buyer actually wants one...
If the buyer wants it it might increase the value of your home, but it will definately make your home more desirable to the buyer...
On the other hand, if the buyer does not want it, they will reduce the value of the home, since they'll want to remodel it (what a crime that would be)
--kyle

 

[RAF]

I think a home theater CAN add value to a home, but I also think it's harder to sell a house with a dedicated HT than a house without it, at least currently.

Mike,
In general, yes, but if the HT is designed so that conversion is easy then I don't think (at least in my case) this is a harder sell. I did take this into consideration during the design phase even though I have no current plans of moving.
For my theater I built in the shelves, but everything else is modular (one reason I chose the Sanus racks rather than built-in electronics.) You open the curtains and you have 3 windows. You remove a couple of screws and the screen and projector come down. Then the room can be many things. It would make a tremendous library, a very nice additional bedroom, even a shop or workroom of some type because of all the electrical enhancements. Heck, Kathy Lee Gifford could even open a sweat shop!

Even the second tier of seating (Radio City Music Hall North) is on a movable platform so a flat floor is not a problem. Remember, I added this room to the original structure rather than modifying an existing room. I didn't sacrifice a bedroom or a family room, etc. to accomplish my goal.
But yes, as you point out, if I had built one of these rooms that has a stage, a permanent screen, built in speakers and components, and tiered seating that is part of the structure then your scenario might very well play out.
But in my case, as I said before, I've got several neighbors who would love the chance to bid on my house and move across the street rather than going through all I did to get where I am today.
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RAF
[Demented Video Dude since 1997]
[Computer Maven since 1956]
["PITA" since 1942]
Link Removed

 

[Neil Joseph]

I am in that process now. Luckily, my room is easily converted back to a general purpose room. BTW, I have absolutely no intention of giving them any of my stuff. I am even pulling all of my wiring and cables out.
orangeman
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Neil's H.T. Site
(plus large selection of H.T.Links and movie images)

 

[Wes]

Just over two years again I sold my last house that I had built a theater in. It was just RPTV and was not a real custom dedicated room but was built just for my theater use. I sold it myself by showing it on Saturdays with open houses. The couple that ended up buying the house was sold on it after my Twister DVD 5.1 demo believe it or not. The theater room in reality probably lowered the value of the home, If it had been an extra bed room it would have increased the value. But with the final buyers it was a cool thing that no other house in the price range($115,000.)had.
In the new house the dedicated theater has a space that could be a closet to make it a bedroom but I had the builder move the window so there are no windows what so ever in the theater so it now can no longer be a bedroom.

"O"well! I do not plan on moving again.
Wes

 

[RAF]

If it had been an extra bed room it would have increased the value.

There are two sides to every coin. True, an extra bedroom increases the value of a home in that sense. But, at the same time, at least in my neck of the woods it also increases TAXES quite substantially, since our real estate taxes are keyed to the number of possible occupants. Therefore, if you stay in the house for an appreciable amount of time you will end up saving a couple of thousand $$ each year in taxes.
When I recently completed an addition that added about 50% to our living space the taxes did not go up proportionally, due to the non-bedroom factor.
Just another consideration.
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RAF
[Demented Video Dude since 1997]
[Computer Maven since 1956]
["PITA" since 1942]
Link Removed