On Apr 15, 5:37*pm, "cshenk" wrote:
"Johnny_A_58" wrote

Hi, Looking for opinions about whether the resale value of a house would
go up or down
after adding a bathroom. I know, sounds obvious, but read on.

Add if you can.

I live in a 4 bedroom, ONE bath older house. The bathroom is 6'3" X 12'6".
The way the
house is laid out, I could cut the existing bathroom in half, making two
rooms that would be
SMALL 6'3" X 6'1" after allowing for the wall in between them.

Nope, although the existing one is 'big' thats a nice selling point.

I could SQUEEZE a full bath in each half with one accessed like it is now,
from the main
hallway. I could cut a hole into the master bedroom from the second half
so I would end
up with a master bath. But they would be SMALL.

How about this. *Can you put in a 1/2 bath using the walk in close without
too much loss? *L-shaped closet might be the result?

A 4BR, 1.5 bath sells better than a 4BR 1bath. *Sure a 4BR 2bath is good,
but if you end up with tiny closets or (horror) a 3 BR 2Bath, you've lost
out.

On what basis do you conclude that a 3 Bedroom/2 Bath home done right
is a horror compared to a house of the same square footage that is a 4
bedroom/1 bath? A 4 bedroom house with one bath is what's a horror
and any buyer will see it in a minute.




The only other options I have would be to take away part of the walk-in
closet in the
master BR, or take the small adjoining enclosed porch, currently used as
an office and
convert it into a bathroom.

1/2 bath in closet area may be doable (you didnt list it's size). *I'd want
to preserve the office space if possible but thats the next best option for
a 2nd bathroom.

Few people are going to value "office space" in a home that is already
4 bedrooms above the value of an additional full bath. Anyone who
needs an office can use one of the 4 bedrooms.




Both of those options would give me a master bath without touching the
existing bathroom,
but then I would lose either the office or a most of the closet. If I took
the office, which is
really a sunroom, I would have to do some major reworking of the exterior
of the house,
i.e. taking out a bunch of windows and an exterior door, and resheathing
and residing to
match the rest of the house.

Nope, stop thinking 'traditional'. *Unless the code specs for your area
*require* a solid wall and a window no bigger than 'x' you can put a
bathroom in a sunroom and just add privacy curtins. (outlets have to be
spec'ed for bathrooms though). *You _may_ want to add some exterior visual
blocking material to the house up a few feet if you are sunroom to the
'floor'.


This is more bad advice. Money spent on a hafl-ass solution isn't
going to add to resale value or make the house easy to sell. I can
just imagine how prospective buyers will react when they see a
bathroom with a privacy curtain and "exterior visual blocking
material."



If you are not able to use the closet, this is your next best option if the
layout makes it easily accessable. *If it's big enough, you might even be
able to keep a smaller office and add a 1/2 bath here. *No idea of your
floorplan layout really though.

what would be the better way to go from a resale standpoint. Thanks, John

Please, whatever you decide, do *not* give up the 4th bedroom. *Bad call..


Nonsense. A 4th bedroom has value if the rest of the house can
support it, ie bathrooms, enough overall room, etc. If he can get
a nice Masteer Bath plus a full second bath and wind up with that
together with 3 bedrooms, he will have a house that is worth more than
one with either 4 bedrooms and 1 bath or some half-ass solution,
because it's more balanced and livable.