No, you can not just add solar panels to a house and make it worth 40% more. Literally every home would have solar panels on it if that were even remotely true.

No, you can not just add solar panels to a house and make it worth 40% more. Literally every home would have solar panels on it if that were even remotely true. The truth is that you are unlikely to make your money back on most home improvement projects, especially if you hire a contractor. Also there is an upper limit on how much you can increase the value of your home because you are limited by the value of your neighbor's homes and nearby comparable homes. If you spend more on improvements than that upper limit, you are almost guaranteed to lose money. Also most first time home buyers lose money anyway because they fail to properly assess the value of a property, they negotiate poorly, and they get emotional about it.