You might think it’s the size of your lot or that new roof you had installed last summer, but experts agree, it is often your kitchen and your bathrooms that have the most impact on buyers when it comes time to sell your home. People may only spend a small part of their day in one or more of their bathrooms, but it is important to most everyone for those rooms to be cozy, functional and accommodating.
Before you list your home for sale, you’ll want to pay special attention to any repairs and renovations needed in your bathrooms. Whether you have the time and money to go all out with a total bathroom redo, or you simply want to make the small tweaks necessary to put your home on the market, we have advice for what you should focus on.
Minor Repairs
Are you looking to address just the basics? Enlist the services of a plumbing expert to check out your bathrooms and make sure everything is in good working order. If there are any leaks in the water lines, make sure those are fixed before they show up on an inspection report. Give your bathrooms a deep cleaning, being sure to remove any hints of mold or mildew, especially around caulking. Look out for hard water stains as well and make sure the stains are removed. Sometimes these only appear in the toilet’s tank, but don’t be surprised if some of the more careful buyers who view your home check there. If these cleaning task seem a bit daunting, it might be a good idea to consider hiring a cleaning service for a one time deep cleaning. Even if you ordinarily handle your home’s cleaning yourself, allowing a professional to take care of this task when you are busy with other home selling tasks can free up important time.
Many bathrooms that are in otherwise great repair could still benefit from a fresh coat of paint, or a wallpaper refresh. Dated colors and styles can make an otherwise gorgeous bathroom lose its lustre. Older wallpaper styles should be removed completely, and of course, paint is a more popular options these days anyway. However, wallpaper has recently seen a resurgence in popularity so if you prefer this look, replace your dated style with something more current and without the busy patterns so popular a few decades ago.
Improved Lighting and Electrical Outlets
Do the light fixtures in your bathrooms look like relics from another place in time? Small details like this can give buyers the impression your home is older than it actually is, and can make them feel like things may be in disrepair even if they aren’t. Newer lighting fixtures in current trends, especially around mirrors will instantly make your bathroom look more up-to-date.
Natural light is just as important in a bathroom as any other room. For any windowless bathrooms, you won’t be able to capitalize on sunlight, so keep the color scheme light and use soft lighting to create the illusion of more space. Well placed mirrors can help with this as well, so in addition to the mirror above your sink, consider adding another one to an adjacent wall. If you are lucky enough to have a window in your bathroom, install shades that are easy to open and close and keep them open as much as is practical. A valance in a cheerful, bright color above any window is also a nice touch.
While you’re thinking about your lighting fixtures, you should also consider the age and condition of your electrical outlets. Does your bathroom contain new and water-safe GFCI outlets? If not, you will need to hire an electrician to install these upgraded outlets before putting your house on the market. These outlets are easy to spot – they’re the ones with the test and reset buttons on them, and they are now required for rooms with a close proximity to water, such as bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms.
Flooring Issues
If there are cracks and chips in your bathroom tile, you may have gotten use to it over the time you’ve lived in your home, but buyers won’t be so forgiving. Luckily, you can replace your bathroom flooring rather affordably with new water-resistant tile or linoleum. Look for a tiles in a style that either matches the decor throughout your home, or is a neutral style that will look right with anything. New flooring will immediately make your bathroom feel and look like new.
Finishing Touches
If nothing in your bathroom is in disrepair, consider yourself lucky! However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do with the room to improve your home’s value. A new rug or bath mat in a bright color can liven up a neutral bathroom. Likewise, an artistic shower curtain and a similarly themed piece of wall art can add just the right about of personality and pizzazz. Another great decorative item for bathrooms? Houseplants! They thrive on the moisture and cleanse the air. Also make sure your linens are in tip-top shape. Linen colors should complement the look of the rest of your bathroom and be free from stains and tears.
Full Bathroom Remodels
Does your bathroom need more than just a few minor fixes? A full bathroom remodel will add significant value to your home, but the average cost of such a project is $20,000-$25,000. When you are deciding if you want to spend this kind of money, one thing to consider is how long you will remain in your home, and how much use you will get out of the newly renovated bathroom. You can expect to recoup around 50% of the cost of the remodel when it comes time to sell your home. Maybe people are surprised to find out that they won’t necessarily recoup the total amount.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still move forward with a renovation. You will enjoy a spruced up bathroom just as much as your potential buyers. According to a study by the National Association of Realtors, 75% of homeowners report wanting to stay in their homes even more after a bathroom remodeling project has been completed, and 65% report having more fun in their homes.
So what specific remodeling projects bring the highest return on your investment? Vanity upgrades come in first place when it comes to the returns you will see when it comes time to sell. Today’s buyers expect to see granite countertops and pristine sinks. If your current bathroom doesn’t live up to these expectations, a new vanity could vastly improve the look of your bathroom. You can expect to spend around $1500 on a basic vanity upgrade, though you can of course spend much, much more on high end choices.
The next most popular bathroom upgrade is new flooring, and luckily this upgrade is likely less expensive than you would expect. Both porcelain and ceramic tiling can be engineered to look like luxurious wood, while still being completely waterproof and durable. Also tops among value in bathroom upgrades is a replacement of your bathtub and/or shower. One of the most popular trends in master bathroom upgrades right now is to pull the old fashioned bathtub and shower combo out completely and instead install a walk-in shower. If you have the space, adding a separate soaking tub is the way to go. Skip the jetted tub though. Their popularity has declined in recent years due to their tendency to break and leak.
Bathroom Additions
Finally, you have the ultimate in bathroom upgrades – adding an additional bathroom to your home. When homeowners add a bathroom to their home, the average amount spent is $40,000-50,000. That’s quite an investment, but if you will be in your home for awhile and could really benefit from having an additional bathroom at your family’s disposal, it could be a worthwhile endeavor, and it may add up to major value when it comes time to sell your home.
According to the National Association of Home Builders, adding a half-bath to your home increases the value by an average of 10%, while adding a full bathroom will increase values by around 20%. This increase tends to be even higher when your home already has more bedrooms than bathrooms. Generally speaking, having an equal number of bedrooms and bathrooms is ideal, so if you are playing catch-up to get to this number, you will see an even higher increase in your home’s value.
Another situation in which adding a bathroom can really pay off is in the case of a finished basement that is missing a bathroom. When buyers tour a finished basement, they expect to see a bathroom, plain and simple. Otherwise, the additional space doesn’t seem like quite as much of a selling point. You might be using your basement as mainly a recreational area, but potential buyers may be looking for living space, such as for an aging parent or a teenager, and no one wants to climb stairs in the middle of the night just to find a restroom. A finished basement without a bathroom is a liability when it comes time to sell. Still, this is a large project, and should ordinarily only be undertaken if you will be in your house long enough to enjoy the additional facilities.