Any Real estate guru's out there.....

[heyttown]

What I have is a 3 bdrm 2 full bath house....In the back addition I have a full bath with a standup shower that we never use(shower anyways)......Im thinking about taking that standup shower and a closet the shares the wall with the shower and making that into a first floor laundry room aprox 10'x10'.Since plumbing and drain will already be close from the shower it should be easy to do.....My question is for resale value, is it more important if you were looking for a house to have 2 Full baths or a first floor laundry room.....The 1/2 bath will still be usable,just no stand up shower....<br />At one time I would say the 2nd shower was important, but now with most new houses have 1st floor or even 2nd floor laundry.<br /><br />Any ideas? Im just wondering about resale value thats all.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Any Real estate guru's out there.....

A bathroom is usually valued more than a laundry tub how knows might turn on a buyer All sorts in the world

 

[Mark42]

Re: Any Real estate guru's out there.....

I think it's a toss up. A mom with kids might like having the laundry out of the basement. But a family with teens might want the second shower. <br /><br />I managed to fit a full sized washer and dryer into a hall closet on the second floor. Closet was same size as standard bedroom closet with sliding doors. 24x60. By removing the sliding doors, enlarging the door opening to about 55", and building out the door casing an additional 1.5" on the outside, the machines fit in. I used bi-folding doors mounted flush to the new outside edge. That makes the depth of the closet 24 + 4.5(wall thickness)+ 1.5 = 30 inches deep. Subtract 1.25 for the thickness of the bi-fold doors and you're left with 28.5" to fit a washing machine that is only 27" deep. Only took 1.5" out of the hallway, you hardly even notice. It is tight, but it works very well and my wife is thrilled with a second floor laundry. I'll post a picture later if you like.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Any Real estate guru's out there.....

I would value the full bath more.<br />But hey, I bought a 3 br 1.5 bath house, that has the sink/commode in the basement, right next to the washer/dryer, so what the Heck do I know?!

 

[Mark42]

Re: Any Real estate guru's out there.....

Seems like the bath gets thumbs up. I don't think you need so much space (10'x10') to do laundry. It can be crammed into a much smaller space. Mine is in a hall closet and there are no problems with working space, loading and unloading, or laundry supplies. So keep the bath, add a laundry to a closet. Here is the view of my laundry closet looking at the master b/r, its the closet on the right. Not very obvious other than the exta 1.5" offset it has into the hallway. <br /><br />

<br /><br />Doors open. Things are tight but work well. New washer and dryer are amazingly quiet and don't jump about or slam the walls when out of balance. <br />

<br /><br />More pictures here Laundry pictures <br /><br />Related thread: web page

 

[beniam]

Re: Any Real estate guru's out there.....

Heyttown<br />Have owned 20 bathrooms over the years(not all at the same time)-My guess is a second shower/bath adds more value at resale than one bathtub. If you are doing it for yourself, think a shower in the basement to replace the washer could help? Would do for a teen in a pinch.<br />Be happy, boat lots. Batavier

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: Any Real estate guru's out there.....

According to a recent real estate newsletter, adding a second bathroom will recoup 92% of it's cost on average, it does depend on the market area. Therefore, I would assume leaving the bathroom is the best idea.