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Show Continued from 17 the houses charming, and that can chase buyers away," said Joanne Dayidow, a vice president of Fox & Roach Realtors who sells real estate in Philadelphia's Center City. Although this year's survey results show that a major kitchen remodeling returns 100 at resale, percent Davidow, a real estate agent for more than 20 years, remains cautious. "Doing a major kitchen renovation just to sell a house is Davidow rarely aid. "If someone has a kitchen, I'll tell them to consider buying new appliances and painting the cabi," nets. "A house that looks perfect will get the highest price, but putting in a kitchen probably isn't the way to go," Davidow said. Such a remodeling project might be attractive because most buyers are not handy and do not want to begin life in a new house with a contrac- tor putting in a new kitchen, said Noelle Barbone, manager of Weichert Realtors' West Chester office. "Kitchens sell houses, without any argument," Barbone Said. "Kitchens get old fast, as quickly as carpets do. They don't go gracefully, either. A house with a bad kitchen gets lowball offers. A house with a beautiful kitchen will get multiple offers, and the initial offers will be ones." Barbone acknowledged that it would be more to have the buyer, rather than the seller, replace the kitchen. high-qualit- y cost-effectiv- the ' data and the value of Rising costs -- REMODEL e Costs of remodeling projects are increasing throughout the country at about the same rate. At the same time, the real estate boom of the last few years has helped push up median sale prices of houses and might be one reason why major kitchen remodr returns. els bring Barbone is on the mark when she says that a majority of buyers do not want to embark on a major renovation project as soon as they move in. The danger, most real estate agents say, is to undertake major projects before you get a feel for what could really improve the house and build up equity in it. Most agents agree that peo. ple who plan to sell their houses should not start a major project just to sell it. "The buyer always perceives that little points are costlier than they are, so you try to have them address those points," said Michelle Dayoub, an agent with ReMax Services in Blue Bell. "Typically, I'll tell them to clean the house up as well as they can and paint where it is appropriate. "If the carpet needs to be replaced, then they should offer some sort of carpeting allowance, not replace the carpeting themselves, because buyers' tastes may be different," Dayoub said. Dayoub believes that if the kitchen is outdated, the seller should reduce the price accordingly, not embark on a major kitchen renovation project that reflects the sellever-highe- . er's tastes rather than buyer's. Although some agents and remodelers have questioned Remodeling magazine's annual survey, Fred Flick, vice president for research for the of Association National Realtors, said the percentages at resale "are very representative of remodeling changes that bring value over Architectural Digest lists 25 legendary designers on return By GARY KRINO Knight Rukler Newspapers time." bring "more balance and weight to the estimate resale value," Flick said, the association and Remodeling asked more appraisers to participate this year. "Since appraisers tend to take the long view of remodeling projects, the effect is that values are now lower by 5 percent to 10 percent" than in past reports, he said, which gives a more realistic value to the return on a major kitchen remodel than if the traditional means of calculating resale returns had been used. Flick emphasized that return on investment depended upon the house, neighborhood and region. "It's still location, location, location but even more, so," Flick said. "Real estate professionals who participated in this study told us that today's home buyers pay even more attention to appreciation and To neighborhood life cycle than did previous generations." Survey aside, a homeowner who is thinking of remodeling should talk to several real Architectural Digest gets in on the millennium crazies with a January issue devoted to a close look at the mag's choices for the Top 25 design legends of the 20th century. Gushes one serious AD: "In this month's issue we identify twenty-fivvisionary talents who over the past one hundred years literally transformed the way we see the world and the way we live." Who's to argue? . You don't actually have to know who these people are to enjoy their stories. And the photos of their work offer lots of chances to compare and contrast. And there most definitely are comparisons and contrasts to be made. e Early La-Z-Bo- sold ys You'd never know it to look at them today, but the original recliner was a simple y wooden porch chair. Recently, a limited edition series of that first recliner the y Recliner Original went on the market. The original was produced by two Michigan cousins who made doll furniture and cabinets. Then, in 1928, they created an innovative chair designed for "nature's way of relaxing." The wood-sla- t folding porch chair followed the contour of a person's body, both sitting and leaning back. The authentic reproduction is crafted of solid European beech hardware and with bears a brass, limited edition, numbered plate. Suggested retail: $399. For more information, call (800) brass-plate- d 625-324- Furniture arranged Ever wonder how your bed would look on the pther side of the bedroom? Whether your home office could efficiently accommodate a bookcase and file cabinet? 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