gray bathroom suite would you replace it before putting house on the market

alanfp

I'd say replace it, and don't spend too much on it (assuming you're not in £500k+ territory). 90% of people buy their bathrooms at B&Q etc, and the quality of their stuff looks OK to me.

The key thing is you want to sell. Yes, you might spend £1200 getting a new cheap suite fitted but most people end up negotiating over a difference of £5k - £10k. So the cost of the suite would come into play at that point. Belive me, a significant proportion of buyers WILL be put off.
Either they will see it and go Yeugh or they will start to think about the aggro of having a new bathroom installed while they are living there. It's a competitive market - if you want them to buy YOUR house and not the next one, invest a little on a white suite.

And a builder/developer looking to do a refurb on your property will want £5k knocked off the price for a new bathroom alone.

dander

I'm another one on the "don't" bus. I'm always put off properties when they've had these kind of renovated to sell type things done because it means you're expected to pay more for the "newly renovated" features, but they probably won't be what you would choose if you did it yourself, won't be the layout you'd want, and everything will have been done with one eye on "the look" rather than practicality.

I think it's far too big and expensive a job to do on the off-chance that someone will prefer your house with it done. Especially in a tricky market like this - even with a brand new bathroom you could struggle to get the price you want, so why make the price you want higher than it needs to be, just to get renovation costs back!

With bathrooms, you can change the impression you give people a lot by getting them sparkling clean and completely uncluttered, no matter what the colour. Shower curtains, stacks of bottles, childrens bathtoys, wrinkly bath mats all have me thinking about slime. Spotlessly clean with clear surfaces and a smell of air freshener (the permanent type, not the "quick I've just done something stinky" type) makes me think that the vendors are slightly hygeine obsessed and that's a good thing if I'm buying their house!

hazyjo

I'll hop on that 'don't bus too

I'd be more put off by a cheap white bathroom suite than I would an old grey one. As someone said above, match the grey into the room and keep the rest pristine white. Grey towels, bath mats, etc - and maybe paint the walls or tiles in white. It's a good trick to the eye - match the accessories to whatever you're trying to hide, keep the rest white - maybe add in another colour - black, turquoise, shocking pink even, and I bet some don't even notice! I only realised my bathroom ceiling was grey when some poor decorator tried painting it white. Took several coats...

Don't point it out to buyers. Just let them form their own opinions.

I reckon it's only a matter of time before coloured bathroom suites are back in fashion anyway

Alybea wrote: »

I wouldn't bother... The house I'm buying has a pale grey suite, my other half assumed it was white until I pointed out that it wasn't.

That did make me laugh

Jx

alanfp

Interesting views....

I wonder how many of you on the 'don't' bus have looked at houses in the last 5-10 yrs with your wives?;) I've looked at quite a few, and you'd be amazed what will stop some people even going inside a property. Buying a house is not a logical thought process.

But just a few more thoughts from the 'do' side of the road (in bold)...

hazyjo wrote: »

I'd be more put off by a cheap white bathroom suite Yet new build properties command a price premium, because most buyers are happy to pay a bit more for a fashionable suite, however 'cheap', and for a brand new suite, even better.

maybe paint the walls or tiles in white. Have you ever seen the result of an amateur painting tiles, even with 'proper' tile paint??? It looks awful.

Don't point it out to buyers. Just let them form their own opinions. Absolutely agree

I reckon it's only a matter of time before coloured bathroom suites are back in fashion anyway Absolutely agree to that as well, but in the same way as I've been holding onto 4 pairs of flared trousers since 1980 waiting for that time to come!

Like I said before, do you want to sell your property soon, or keep it for a year and then sell it, knowing that you squeezed the last £1200 value out of the sale, cos I reckon that's the choice you've got.

hazyjo

Got a husband, not a wife Mind you, he's fussier than me lol.

With a lot of new builds, buyers get to choose what goes in. If they accept a characterless shoe box with a cheap bathroom suite and pay through the nose for it, more fool them. A lot of high end new builds actually put in decent features these days - including nice bathroom suites and kitchens. People are pretty good these days at spotting a cheap kitchen or bathroom. We're buying an 8 year old house with a couple of very smart (not 'trendy') bathrooms and a lovely kitchen.

I can only speak for me personally... if a new bathroom suite was installed to sell a house, I would want a decent one. If it was one of those awful 'shell style' ones or a very basic cheap suite, it would make no difference to my offer even if the bathroom suite had remained grey.

I've used proper tile paint and it looked fab. But, I'm with you on that - it looks bloody awful when most people use it. I've rarely seen it look nice. Thin coats are the way to go, slowly painted on with a paintbrush, one tile at a time in one direction only. Any thick coats will just start to have a 'drip' effect at the bottom. I spent days/weeks (I dread to think how many hours) meticulously painting my old bathroom tiles with a small paintbrush. It was a painful job - but then I'm an absolute perfectionist. Looking back, I wish I'd just replaced them, but there you go - money was tighter back then than it is right now.

Ah, you missed the flares revival in the '90s

Jx

poppysarah

If you do the viewings yourself - you could point out it's a good quality suite that's not in urgent need of replacement and it gives them the chance to decide on their new bathroom themselves.