Should I listen to my wife (for sale, real estate, apartments) - City-Data Forum

lost2011 · 07-02-2011, 07:14 AM

I recently fell in love with a very charming house at the 450k range (but my wife did not). It's an dormered cape with beautifully decorated hi-hat living room on the first floor (with very open floor plan). On the second floor, there are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one sunroom. It's one of a kind in the area and I loved it but my wife would not agree with me. She's concerned about the resale value of the house.

The problem is that the house has a huge bathroom in the master-suite and it was converted from a bedroom (so there are only two bedrooms now). Would it make the house hard to sell? If we later decide to convert it back to a bed room, how much would it cost?

Buckthedog · 07-02-2011, 07:22 AM

Adding a bathroom is FAR more expensive than removing one. In fact, a DIYer can demo one in a weekend, and a bedroom is nothing more than drywall.

As for listening to you wife, what man does? Really though it should be a house that you both love.

NYEconomist · 07-02-2011, 07:27 AM

Only if you want to sleep in the house

lubby · 07-02-2011, 07:34 AM

You both should come to a mutual agreement when purchasing your home, otherwise you both won't be happy.

nuts2uiam · 07-02-2011, 07:36 AM

I would agree with your wife for this reason. If, as you suggest, you were to remove the second bathroom, you are then left to try to sell a 3 bedroom home with one bath. Generally speaking, I would say the price does not carry a single bathroom, that said I don't know what town on LI you are speaking about. Again, generally speaking, people may have children and guests and where do you go in a two bedroom home with them? You don't indicate if there is a basement that has potential for sleeping guests.

Go to Trulia - Real Estate, Homes for Sale, Sold Properties, Apartments for Rent and see how long the house has been on the market and if you really love it and it has been on a while you may be able to get a deal. Keep us posted.

twingles · 07-02-2011, 08:36 AM

I agree with previous poster. It may be easy to demo a bath, but it's still dirty messy work and if you aren't a DYIer, you'll have to hire it out. Then you'll be used to living in a house with 2 bathrooms and you'll only have one, and you'll have to figure out where to add one if you want it.

Most people do not want a 2BR house. If you go for it, make sure you are negotiating hard on the price because of this.

suprememinds · 07-02-2011, 11:32 AM

ok i think i'm the only one that is reading this wrong. i thought the op stated that there are two baths and two bedrooms and a sunroom. The problem was if they decided to resell they would have to eliminate one bathroom to convert it back to a bedroom(making it 3bd?) but if you are buying it like that why would it be a problem to resell? Especially if there is one bathroom already in the master bd?

LongIslandCitizen · 07-02-2011, 01:15 PM

Listen to your wife

unless

you can handle a life time of nagging and "I told you so's"

minesbroken · 07-02-2011, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longislandcitizen

listen to your wife

unless

you can handle a life time of nagging and "i told you so's"

+1

Coney · 07-02-2011, 05:26 PM

I assume that the first floor has an open floor plan because walls were knocked down eliminating the original bedrooms on the first floor? If you convert the upstairs bathroom back to a bedroom before resale, the remaining bathroom would be on the first floor. Who wants to get up in the middle of the night and go down a flight of stairs to make it to the bathroom?
I would not buy this house. Two bedrooms are really hard to sell. I know you are tempted because the house is probably very modernized. However, a cape is a cape no matter how it is expanded, domered, whatever. There is only so much that you can uncape a cape.