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Thanks for all the replies and suggestions so far. Your input is really helpful.
I was going to type a detailed response talking about the second bathroom and issues with turning it into a full bath, and some other ideas about where we could put a second bathroom, but then I realized I know how to post videos on YouTube. So I took a video of our downstairs showing you the layout and the two areas we think could possibly house a full bathroom.
Idea 1: turn the mudroom and current half bath (which are located in the same area) into a full bath.
Idea 2: Turn the laundry room (located off the kitchen) into a full bath.
The video shows everything so let me know what you think. I guess my biggest questions are:
1. Would it be appropriate to have a full bathroom off a kitchen? (would people want to get showered there?)
2. If we made our laundry room into a bathroom, we'd have to move our washer and dryer into the (unfinished and somewhat ugly) basement. Would the loss of a dedicated laundry room undo the good of adding a bathroom?
Here's the video. If you have any thoughts after viewing, please let me know.
Also if you have any idea what it would cost (roughly) to turn the mudroom or laundry room into a bathroom, let me know.
THANKS A MILLION!!!
Edited to Add: I just realized one advantage to making the laundry room a full bath (instead of the mudroom/half bath)....it would bring our bath total to 2.5, whereas if we make the current half bath and mudroom into a full bath, it would bring our bathroom count to 2.
Last edited by Sassygirl18; 06-14-2010 at 06:21 PM..
Great idea posting the video. You may want to start a seperate thread in the house forum with this question. There is a ton of remodeling discussion there and you may get a better response.
If you are going to add a bathroom, IMO change the laundry room into a bathroom. Given that you have that hall door on the laundry room, you could close off the door to the kitchen and use that wall for a small sitting area / eat in kitchen. Assuming you make the laundry room into a 3/4 bath, your house then would be 2.25 baths. Just a small aside, and only because it showed in the video, and you don't want any eww factor, the fridge handle, if you can get it clean.
Our house has been on the market for a long time. We've had lots of interest, many, MANY showings, several second showings... a couple buyers who came THISCLOSE to making an offer. Recently we even went under contract, but 2 weeks before closing the buyers bailed (we don't know why) and cancelled the contract. (Obviously they lost much of their deposit).
It's a beautiful, classic house and it's priced accurately. We know this based on the appraisal done by the buyer's mortgage company (I think it was an FHA appraiser).
Anyway, from all the feedback we have gotten from showings, it seems like the biggest issue with our house is that it has 1.5 bathrooms. It's a 2,500 square foot house with 4 bedrooms + 2 bonus rooms, so people expect more bathrooms. It's not a starter home...it's a "move up" home, but it seems that nowadays people just cannot live with less than 2 full bathrooms.
My question to you is....should we have another bathroom put in the house? I know it will make our house more sellable - it would probably open up our house to a whole new group of potential buyers who won't consider it because it doesn't have enough bathrooms. My concerns are:
1. We don't have the money to put in a bathroom (I am guessing it would cost somewhere around $10k?) We'd have to borrow the money.
2. Is it likely we would recoup the money we spend to intall a bathroom in this market?
3. Our house is currently on the market, so if we installed a bathroom, would we raise our asking price? Or would we just eat the $10K and be happy it helped us sell?
Are you sure your buyers bailed because of the bathrooms? Your house is lovely. We used to have a Dutch colonial in northern Westchester.
I think that most people who buy 4-5 BR houses want more than one full bathroom. They don't want to share with their kids and it is extremely inconvenient for everyone in a large family to shower one at a time. However, I still find myself wondering if the bathrooms are really the reason they canceled the contract.
I agree having just the one full bath in a house of that size would be awful for a family to deal with, and the half bath is the size of a closet. Otherwise i think it looks great, but that would be a major dealbreaker.
The laundry would be the ideal place for a new bath, but all the money and time involved i don't think is worth it. I'd just drop the price to compensate for it, and let the new buyers deal with it if need be.
Re: the comment on the fridge handle...it's not dirty. It's worn off paint. Any idea how to rectify the problem? (The handle a hard plastic-like material so not sure if we could paint it?)
Re: the question about whether the lack of bathrooms is the problem with not selling....it's the feedback we've gotten most frequently from realtors (and buyers who've come without realtors), so we assume it is the main problem preventing us from selling. There are some other issues with the house (original windows, oil heat), but the bathroom situation gets mentioned the most frequently.
Re: the comment on the fridge handle...it's not dirty. It's worn off paint. Any idea how to rectify the problem? (The handle a hard plastic-like material so not sure if we could paint it?)
Re: the question about whether the lack of bathrooms is the problem with not selling....it's the feedback we've gotten most frequently from realtors (and buyers who've come without realtors), so we assume it is the main problem preventing us from selling. There are some other issues with the house (original windows, oil heat), but the bathroom situation gets mentioned the most frequently.
I don't know your market and your immediate neighborhood, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt ... BUT ... your potential buyers should know before they step foot into your house what the bathroom situation is - and yet, they still come view your house.
When it comes to feedback, sometimes an agent reaches for any kind of negative ... anything at all. And sometimes, even if that negative didn't exist, that particular buyer still wouldn't make an offer. The house just isn't for them - for reasons that they might not be able to acurately pinpoint, but it just doesn't "feel" right.
Chuckity's thought are along the same lines as my own -- folks that appreciate what living in an older house REALLY MEANS in terms of not just the PLUSES but the TRADEOFFS would have already made an offer on your place AS IS. The fact that such a buyer has not emerged is something that I do not believe you should be overly concerned with!
Seriously of the folks that "like the place but wish it had two full baths" I think I can say that NONE OF THEM would be happier if one of those full baths was on the first floor. The reality is that MOST BUYERS would want that second full bath to be attached to the MASTER BEDROOM and frankly the odds of a house of the vintage of yours having a "master suite" with some full-bore "spa like retreat" at YOUR price point are NIL...
Trust me, a buyer will appreciate what you are selling and as long as their NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT that is a better deal you will get it sold EVENTUALLY.
If you NEED to sell fast then go ahead and cut your price.
If you want the "right buyer" to come along and you have no competition that be patient...
Re: the comment on the fridge handle...it's not dirty. It's worn off paint. Any idea how to rectify the problem? (The handle a hard plastic-like material so not sure if we could paint it?)
Try epoxy spray paint for appliances from Home Depot. Go into the paint department and ask them about it, they'll be able to point you to where it is. There is also a small little bottle of touch up paint that you can get for appliances. We used the spray paint to restore the edge of our cooktop that was rusted. It looks great!
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