How much did the steering wheel cost on your used car? Why do people prefer new cars over old cars? Less worry about unforeseen maintenance issues. Same with houses.
A new roof vs and old roof will get different buyers, ones that are more price sensitive than others.
People may overlook the roof if the house has all the other desirables on their list of requirements.
So the answer always is, "every house and buyer is a unique situation"
Other ways to look at the sale:
what's the recent sales and prices look like for as close to a comparable as possible.
That's what a good real estate agent will use. .
Also, you can pretend to be a buyer and go look at selling costs of comparables to get a feel as a buyer
prices and conditions of comparables. Also you are competing against the current inventory for sale at the time you list the house,
which you have no control over, so get an idea of what's for sale right before you sell
Or a new roof vs an older roof won't get the purchaser a reason to want to discount your price.
A new roof probably will sell faster as it appeals to more people for something les to worry about.
Upgrades may not recover the particular cost from within the bundle of land, location, and house particulars from the buyer.
But the new roof gives one less point to dissuade a buyer, or one less point to negotiate from the for sale price, and maybe a quick sale as none of the other houses for sale at the time of your sale, will have a new roof.
These are all externality conditions in your sale environment, none of which you can control other than the price.
Good luck
We have done upgrades / replacements knowing that the house should sell quickly for a competitive price, which is our desires, time to close, versus absolute top dollar cost accounting, which can be calculated, but not the value which is dependent upon each unique buyer.
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