Q: I just lately purchased a two-story home in Ridgewood, Queens, with a rest room on every flooring. The upstairs rest room has a bathtub, and the downstairs one has a standing bathe. I’d wish to renovate the upstairs rest room and substitute the bathtub with a pleasant walk-in bathe. However is that this a great funding? Ought to I feel extra about resale, or designing the toilet that I really need?
A: The reply to your query has little to do with the deserves of bathtubs, and is basically about why you’re renovating.
Folks renovate both as a result of they wish to make their residing house extra nice, or as a result of they wish to promote the property for more cash. Positive, there’s some overlap, however should you plan to repair up the property and flip it, then you need to be making design selections which might be as impartial as attainable, selecting finishes that can enchantment to the widest variety of tastes. And most of the people like bathtubs.
“I’ve had shoppers which have turned down actually, very nice homes as a result of there isn’t any bathtub,” mentioned Kevin McWilliams, an affiliate dealer with Dwelling New York. “It’s actually going to restrict the client pool if they don’t have a tub.”
A 2021 report by the Nationwide Affiliation of Dwelling Builders discovered that 74 % of consumers needed each a bathtub and a bathe within the major rest room. For those who plan to promote the home anytime quickly, you’ll be going through one other problem: The gross sales market is sluggish proper now, so a home with out a tub shall be at a drawback.
However should you plan to remain for some time, the housing market could not matter — finally, your home will accrue worth no matter what finishes you add. Ten years from now, “a home in Ridgewood goes to be value some huge cash,” whether or not it has a soaker tub or a walk-in bathe, mentioned Jonna Stark, an affiliate dealer with Brown Harris Stevens in Lengthy Island Metropolis, Queens.
So should you plan to remain, put within the bathe that can make you content. (Though you may discover that you just often want a bathtub, like when you’ve got an damage or want to wash a child or a pet.) It’s your cash and you need to dwell in the home. “Benefit from the house to procure, love your house,” Ms. Stark mentioned.
For weekly e-mail updates on residential actual property information, join right here.