A. Sprucing up a bathroom before a sale doesn’t necessarily require swinging a sledgehammer. There are many small fixes and improvements that real estate agents and home stagers frequently recommend to help a bathroom look its best.
When a potential buyer sees the bathroom, “You don’t want that feeling of ‘Ew, I wouldn’t want to take a shower in there,’ ” said Lucie Holt, a senior vice president with Citi Habitats in New York. “You want the opposite effect, of ‘Wow, I would just love to come home and take a nice hot bath or shower,’ because it’s clean and luxurious.”
That said, she added, “You don’t have to spend a lot of money to transform a basic bathroom into something a bit dreamier.”
You should aim to give the room the pristine, uncluttered look of a bathroom in a good hotel, Ms. Holt says. For a recent listing in the meatpacking district, she spent about $60 at Bed Bath & Beyond, for a white shower curtain and rings, a bathmat, fluffy towels and flower vases. Although they’re just accessories, they made the entire room more inviting, she said.
Beyond accessorizing, there are other things you can do to “remove the ick factor” of an old bathroom, said Donna Dazzo, president of the New York and Hamptons home-staging company Designed to Appeal.
“First of all, the bathroom should be sparkling clean,” Ms. Dazzo said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Also, take a close look at the grout and caulking.
“Often, the grout between tiles is mildewed or crumbling out,” she said. “A regrouting can do wonders to make it look like you’ve just had new tile installed.”
And, Ms. Dazzo said, “recaulking around the top of the tub where it meets the tile, as well as where it meets the floor, which tends to get moldy, definitely helps.”
For a more elaborate fix, but one that doesn’t have to cost a lot, she suggests installing new light fixtures, faucets and cabinet pulls. And if you have a tired wooden vanity unit, she recommends a coat of dark semigloss paint.
Before each showing, she advises sellers to go through a quick checklist to ensure the bathroom is ready. “All your toiletries and used bars of soap have to be stored away,” she said. “The wastebasket should be emptied. The toilet seat lid should be down. The fluffy new towels should be out, and your used towels should be in the laundry.”
Essentially, “buyers don’t want to feel like they’re in someone else’s bathroom,” Ms. Dazzo said. To that end, “If there’s a well-worn toilet seat, I would recommend updating that as well.”
Posted via email from Markham Real Estate Today with Asif Khan
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