How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Bathroom Remodel

Most home renovation projects have the potential to increase your property’s value. Whether your desire is to make small, cosmetic tweaks throughout or to completely re-engineer the flow and feel of a room with a full-blown, “down-to-the-studs” renovation, you’re quite likely to see a return on that investment when it comes time to sell.

Yet not all renovations are alike: the return on investment for some is much greater than for others. What’s more, certain rooms or components of your home renovation can be deal-breakers: they can sell the home for you, so even if the ROI is not as great, the need to renovate is still there. Curb appeal (for example), is hugely important in getting a house sold, even though the ROI is not quite as high as some other projects. So, what’s a home renovation project that’s got the greatest ROI and will get your house sold?

Renovate your bathrooms. The bathroom (like the exterior curb appeal or the kitchen), can make or break a potential sale. Buyers can fall in love with an immaculate master bath, or be forever scarred by an unsightly, dated, dirty bathroom.

Having a clean and inviting bathroom is vital to getting your home sold, and the return on investment is substantial: of all home renovation projects, bathroom remodels offer one of the greatest increases to home value relative to the initial investment.

And what’s great about the bathroom renovation is that it doesn’t have to be wildly expensive: a substantial, worthwhile renovation to a bathroom might cost around $10,000. That alone could get your home sold, and compared to the cost of renovating a kitchen (for example), it’s an absolute steal.

So don’t wait: if your bathrooms are feeling dated and dingy, get to work on updating. Focusing on these few key areas in your bathroom will make all the difference in getting you serious value for your bathroom renovation project. It is better to reach out to a skilled team with tons of experience for such purposes. For instance, bathroom remodeling contractor Perth has spent years helping clients and closely following their results. To wrap this up, if you want to increase your property’s value, you better ally with trustworthy professionals.

Fix Your Floors

This may come as a surprise, but the floor is one of the most important components of a complete bathroom update that will deliver serious value (and serious style). And if you’re selling your home, having an updated bathroom floor is paramount since appraisers consider the quality of floors when determining your home’s value. Dingy, worn floors can seriously hurt your ability to sell your home at a good price point, so it’s absolutely essential that you update them.

This is doubly true for the bathroom: because bathrooms are a smaller space with minimal furnishings (if any), aspects of the room like the floor and the walls get more attention than they do elsewhere. The bathroom floor can pull the room together: it can make a style statement unto itself (a statement that isn’t often made in the bedroom or living room, for example).

And you don’t have to invest a lot of money to have a killer bathroom floor. Choose trendy, modern tiles, or go for a newer wood laminate. Save money by installing your floors yourself: it’s a fairly easy thing to learn and you’d be surprised how quickly you can lay tile or fix laminate planks together once you get going. You can also up the ante by investing in heated flooring. While the cost to install is a bit high, heated bathroom floors are the height of luxury: they’ll make you feel great while you’re in the home using them, and they’ll certainly catch the eye of savvy buyers when listed among your home’s high-end features.

Update the Vanity

We mentioned earlier: there aren’t a ton of furnishings in the average bathroom, so what’s there will certainly get attention and make a statement about the room. Like your floors, your vanity is not going to go unnoticed by potential buyers, and if your vanity is old, dirty, or dated, you’ll have problems.

Do yourself a favor: update your vanity. This may be one of the more expensive aspects of your bathroom renovation but a worthy one. After all, some larger vanities might require you to replace long countertops and several cabinets, which will certainly add more cost than just a new mirror and lights. Choose granite countertops if you’re able (they’re so in right now). And take special care to choose eye-catching fixtures. Brushed nickel, brass, and bronze fixtures can elevate the room with a little glamor.

Go Big on the Shower

It’s not an overstatement to suggest that a great shower can sell a home. And what luck: shower renovations do not have to be woefully expensive to be effective. What’s popular right now is a large, open walk-in shower. You don’t need to invest in a fancy soaker tub to sell your bathroom, and if space is limiting, then we’d encourage you not to.

As long as your home has one tub remaining somewhere in the house, potential buyers would prefer that you update your bathroom to remove the dated tub and replace it with a light and airy walk-in shower. And wherever possible, forgo barriers. Nothing screams “closed-off and dark” like a shower curtain, so if you’re able, get rid of it. Design a bathroom that instead uses glass walls and doors, or (even better) nothing at all. Barrier-less showers open up what is already a fairly small room, make the flow of the room smoother, and increase light. But what’s more, they’re inclusive: older buyers that might struggle to step over the edge of a tub will thank you for eliminating that obstacle for them.

Speaking of showering your potential buyers with convenience, if you’ve got a fairly large space in which to build your walk-in shower, go ahead and include a custom, built-in shower bench in the design. The added expense and labor is minimal, and it’s a feature that’s always appreciated. Shower benches don’t have to be large: you can build a triangular bench into one corner of a shower if space is at a premium. Yet the value-add will be incredible. For shaving legs or for resting shampoo bottles, the shower bench is a must-have, and your buyers will thank you for it.

It’s All in the Details

Once your shower, vanity, and flooring have gotten their revamp, you can feel confident knowing that you addressed the major components of your bathroom remodel in a way that was efficient and effective, while adding notable value to your home. But if you’ve got just a little bit more money to spare there’s more you can do, and it’ll be easy (and fun).

Update the paint, which is an inexpensive and easy way to improve the overall look and feel of the bathroom. Today, greys are quite popular for the bathroom, but feel free to choose anything that’s soft, neutral, and doesn’t darken the room. And make sure that when you’ve updated your vanity and shower, that you also pay due attention to fixtures.

Fixtures are a great place to have some fun with your style without breaking the bank. Brass fixtures can offer a real splash of color to an otherwise neutral bathroom. Finally, consider changing out your bathroom mirrors. Clean lines and minimal details are a must, so if your current bathroom mirrors involve elaborate frosted designs or beveled edges, it’s time for them to go. This is a cheap and effective way to bring modern design into your bathroom.

All told, with mirrors, fixtures, and paint colors on-trend and vanity, shower, and the floor that are show-stopping and modern, your bathroom will undoubtedly help you sell your home and will add serious value. Just make sure to enjoy it a little bit before you go.

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