Can A 5-Piece Bathroom Increase The Value Of Your Home? We Asked A Real Estate Expert
When you're ready to do some work on your home that will provide an immediate benefit, you may want to start with ideas for remodeling your bathroom. People spend a lot of time in their bathrooms, so devoting time and money to this room can result in significant improvements you can appreciate right away. Before you start tearing out fixtures and walls, though, you want to be certain to avoid mistakes everyone makes when renovating a bathroom.
One such mistake is blindly expecting the remodeling project to significantly increase the value of the home. In fact, if you are planning to rework this space only to try to create a five-piece bathroom that you read or heard will significantly increase the value of your home, you probably should think again, according to Trey Danna, a real estate broker and principal for The Trey Danna Team.
"No, a five-piece bathroom does not increase the value of your home," Danna tells House Digest in an exclusive interview. The best this type of project can do is "increase the overall appeal of the home, making it more sellable." There are multiple clever hacks that can improve the value of your home, but focusing only on creating a five-piece bathroom isn't one of them.
What is a five-piece bathroom?
"A five-piece bath can be any mix of five plumbing fixtures in one bathroom," Danna says in his exclusive interview with House Digest. Although you could install this type of layout in any bathroom in your home, it's most common in the master bath. This is where two people may be in the room at the same time, trying to get ready for work or a night out, making the extra fixtures a benefit.
However, "the definition of a five-piece bath can be confusing," Danna says, because multiple different types of fixtures could constitute the five-piece bathroom. "It serves as a catch-all for bathrooms that have five fixtures or more," Danna explains. Such catch-all descriptions in a real estate listing don't tell you the exact layout of the space, meaning it may not fit your needs very well. You wouldn't realize this until you actually see it.
Danna says the most common and best layout for a five-piece bathroom consists of a double vanity (which has two sinks), a toilet, a shower, and a bathtub. "We believe [this] is the best, as it's the most utilized combination in the U.S. that we've sold," he says. However, other potential layouts are possible, he says, such as a double vanity, toilet, and double shower, or a double vanity, toilet, shower, and bidet.
Does any aspect of the five-piece bathroom remodeling project boost a home's value?
When considering a five-piece bathroom or any remodeling project in the bathroom, Danna says you should focus on the quality of the appliances when you want to improve the overall value of the home. Simply having five fixtures won't move the needle, but high-end items in the bathroom can help the resale value.
"The specific toilet, sink, et cetera can make a difference in the overall value of the home when it brings something unique to the table," Danna exclusively tells House Digest. "Some examples of types that would bring more value are heated toilet seats, champagne bubble tubs, functionality of bathtubs, steam showers, et cetera."
Upgrading older, worn-out aspects of the space can help, too. If you have flooring that looks decades old, changing it can give your bathroom a fresh, modern look that's appealing to buyers. While doing this upgrade, consider adding radiant heating to the flooring to give your space a luxury feel. Another option is to upgrade the tile in the surround for the bathtub or shower, which can give your bathroom a boost in value, too.