Should we add a bath to sell? Your thoughts please!

Izz

We bought our current home 8 years ago, expecting to stay forever...so we took the bath out of the main bathroom and replaced it with a large shower cubicle, because we much prefer showering as a method of getting clean. There is also a small shower room. Both are nice rooms.

Unfortunately we now have to sell. Having made the house suit us, we are now wondering which if any of the things we've done will stop potential purchasers. We are repainting, cleaning, decluttering, giving the garden a spruce up and the animals will be bathed daily and be out when there are any 'viewers'. It will be as clean and spare as we can make it, and we will price realistically BUT the market in the area is very slow and we have to sell. So, should we add a bath - people on property programmes seem to love 'roll top baths', so should it be one of these? What do people think?

The kitchen is also very 'us' with open shelving rather than wall units. Should we change these too? We're unwilling to spend loads on a brand new fitted kitchen, but we don't mind some new units if people think it would help.

Thanks in advance

Izz

seven-day-weekend

Yes

Sounds like my house! I personally wouldn't change the kitchen, because people normally change them anyway, but I would put a bath in, this seems to be what people want. We are going to put a bath in when we come to sell.

moneyinmypocket

Other than tidying up and making things presentable I wouldn't bother. Whomever buys will buy because of location and the 4 walls - they will likely replace bathroom and kitchen

phoebe1989seb

Speaking as someone who personally loves baths and couldn't be without one, I would always want one in my house.......

But as someone who added a gorgeous upstairs en suite bathroom at great expense with V&B fittings (previously there was one bathroom and one en suite shower room downstairs, bu no bathing facilities servicing the two upstairs bedrooms) to our last house because we intended to stay there, but which didn't add any value to our property at all, I would say the addition of a bath to the bathroom would possibly make your property more appealing to potential purchasers but you would be unlikely to recoup the cost.

We did however achieve a sale within a fortnight (2011) and everyone that viewed our house loved the freestanding bath

Trouble is with kitchens and bathrooms whatever you choose will not necessarily appeal to future purchasers. We have always chosen timeless styles in high end products that hopefully will not date too much, but even then there is the chance someone will want to come in and rip it out to start again.....

You can't please all of the people all of the time as they say:o

hazyjo

I wouldn't spend money changing it, but be aware it will put some people off. I have discarded houses with only showers (unless the shower is old), as will many families who need to bath children. Often they're tiny rooms which previously squeezed a bath in so that too would put me off. If it was an old shower, I wouldn't mind changing the room. They do tend to be nice snazzy modern showers to make up for the lack of bath which I would be reluctant to rip out/replace with a bath.

The kitchen wouldn't put me off buying it, but I would want to change it as don't like open shelves.

Jx
PS I would never choose a roll top style bath again with a shower over - would only have one if I had a separate shower cubicle so I could just use the bath as a bath. You end up with water everywhere, or you have to have 2 shower curtains on a ring above the bath (from ceiling) and get 'attacked' by clingy shower curtains which I absolutely hate!

immoral_angeluk

Yes

As a mother to two children a bath is essential. A yes vote from me!

Izz

PS I would never choose a roll top style bath again with a shower over - would only have one if I had a separate shower cubicle so I could just use the bath as a bath. You end up with water everywhere, or you have to have 2 shower curtains on a ring above the bath (from ceiling) and get 'attacked' by clingy shower curtains which I absolutely hate![/QUOTE]

The shower itself will stay, and we'll put a bath underneath (if you see what I mean) - Thanks for reminding me of the horrors of freestanding baths with showers! The room used to have a bath, so there's plenty of room, though not enough for a bath and a separate cubicle. The current shower cubicle is a pretty ordinary affair (Wickes, standard-type range) and is far from snazzy, so we won't be making the bathroom less attractive. So far the bath is ahead...

cattie

No

As someone who has just had her house on the market and accepted an offer just over 4 weeks on, I put the same question to my ea before marketing.

I much prefer showers so when I moved in I had a shower and basin put in to replace the the ancient bath and basin in what is a very small bathroom. Like you, I never saw me wanting to move at the time.

Anyway, ea said it just wasn't worth it and whilst she felt it might make it a bit more appealing to some buyers, she felt if they really preferred a bath then they could have it fitted themselves.

When viewers came, I pointed out to them that there had originally been a bath and basin in the room, just in case they didn't think there was enough room for one, and also pointed out that in my separate wc, by moving the toilet pan to a different location on the outside wall, it would be possible to site a shower cubicle or walk in shower in it's place to give them the best of both worlds.

Only one viewer, with 2 young boys, commented that the lack of a bath didn't suit them and it certainly didn't put off my buyer, who has 2 teenage children.

jayphe

It will put off some buyers with small children, or those thinking of having children soon. I'd think about doing it if it's the type of house where they're a large proportion of your market and it won't require changes to existing shower mixer unit, tiling or floor and your bathroom isn't so fancy that a basic bath would ruin the look. You can probably sell the current shower tray and screens for a decent price to offset some of the cost.

As a slightly off-beat alternative, if your house is in great condition and will appeal to buyers looking for somewhere that needs no work, you could offer in the advert that if the buyer wants, you will install a bath between exchange and completion. No idea if this is realistic or workable in reality though.

mungobella

No

Without knowing the details it's hard to say of course, but if the market is really very slow in your neighbourhood it seems plausible that the only way you will sell is by setting the price quite low. If this is the case, I imagine you will regret spending money on installing a bath, particularly if it turns out the buyer isn't interested in the bath. Good luck either way!

motherofstudents

No

It doesn't cost much to fit a bath so I would be tempted to leave it as it is. If a buyer likes the house, the location but not the shower, they can easily fit a bath of their choice. You could spend money on a bath that someone will want to change. That's just my opinion. You could always say you will make an allowance for fitting the bath when you are negotiating. I'm sure it's not a deal breaker.