These kitchen features help you prepare holiday meals — and sell your home

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, when family and friends look forward to sharing large home-cooked meals together. The kitchen’s setup can help homeowners both with holiday meal preparation and with commanding a higher price for their home when it’s time to sell.

Beyond the holidays, the pandemic pushed many people to cook more often at home, and some home buyers are willing to pay more for high-end kitchen amenities. In an analysis of more than one million home sales in 2020, Zillow identified eight kitchen features associated with higher sales prices and/or fewer days on the market that also could help homeowners prepare large family meals.

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These features correlate with higher sale premiums, but because many factors contribute to sales prices, any one feature may not be the reason homes sell for more. In other words, Zillow can’t prove causality. Its analysis of keywords in listings indicates what buyers consider to be elements of desirable homes.

Home sellers who already have these features should flaunt them in listings to highlight what the home has going for it, said Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert. Zillow did not examine the return on investment of installing these features if homeowners don’t already have them.

Steam ovens and dual-fuel ranges were popular cooking appliances among buyers in 2020.

Steam ovens topped Zillow’s list of features throughout the home that are associated with price premiums. These ovens use steam molecules to heat food while melting much of the fat and preserving nutrients. They can contribute to homes selling for almost 5% more than similar homes without them, according to Zillow.

Stoves with gas cooktops and electric ovens provide homeowners with cooktops that heat food such as gravy more evenly and quickly and ovens that deliver more consistent results for baking dishes such as pies and macaroni and cheese. Dual-fuel ranges are associated with homes selling for about 2% more, according to Zillow.

Home buyers last year liked touchless faucets that turn on and off with the wave of a hand and also pot fillers, faucets that swing out from walls and extend over cooktops.

Features such as motion-activated faucets “became increasingly popular during the pandemic, when having a healthy and sanitary home became increasingly important,” Pendleton said. Touchless faucets are associated with homes selling almost two days faster than expected and for slightly more, according to Zillow.

Pot fillers can be a convenient option when boiling pasta or potatoes, “so you don’t have to take a huge, heavy pot of water all the way from your sink to your range,” Pendleton said. They also have become increasingly popular and been featured on home improvement shows. And they can contribute to homes selling for 1.5% more, according to Zillow.

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Countertops made of quartz or butcher block drew buyers’ interest in 2020. Their appearance is vastly different, but “both of those countertop surfaces have their pros,” Pendleton said.

The popular and durable quartz countertop material is low maintenance and resistant to heat and scratches. Because quartz is nonporous, it also is resistant to stains from spilling red wine or cranberry sauce and won’t harbor bacteria from raw turkey. Highlighting quartz countertops in a listing can contribute to homes selling for about 3% more than expected, according to Zillow.

Because buyers like to get as much use out of their surfaces as they can, they also are drawn to butcher block — the only countertop material made to double as a cutting surface. Mentions of butcher block in listings are associated with homes selling almost four days faster and for almost 3% more than expected, according to Zillow.

Buyers also responded favorably to listings that included specialty appliances such as wine refrigerators and appliances with smart technology.

The presence of wine fridges to keep specialty beverages cool can contribute to homes selling almost two days faster than expected and for almost 2% more, according to Zillow.

Technologies that make life more convenient are popular throughout the house, including kitchens. Smart refrigerators can help homeowners remember what’s inside. Smart ovens can monitor a roasting turkey and switch to warming mode when it’s done. Technology-connected kitchen appliances can contribute to homes selling for 3% more than expected, according to Zillow.