Update bathroom before selling?

[LammasEve]

We want to put our flat on the market in 18 months or so, but it needs some work doing. Some work is done, some we have booked in and budgeted for, but haven't got any quotes for replacing the bathroom yet.

Is it worth spending £7k+ (rough estimate) on a bathroom replacement or are we better saving that money? Bathroom is 30 years old so we will need to do something with it before selling but is a full replacement throwing money away?

We expect the property to be worth £150k-ish if we get everything done including the bathroom, it's a 2 bed flat in a good area.

Why on Earth would it cost 7k? Buy the fittings yourself online & get a plumber to install. Tiler/ plasterer & you're done.

The key is to avoid moving services- keeps costs way down.

I bought all fittings/ tiles/ flooring for £1500. DH is a plumber & fitted it all, but local tradesmen would be way cheaper than a company doing the whole thing.

I went on internet guides from a few sites, they've been accurate for the other work we've had done. But that does sound like a cheaper way to do it.

It will definitely be far cheaper. Tell a company you have £7k, it'll cost that plus more.

Buy a few current home magazines/ get on Pintrest & build a board and get looking for things you like. If you're moving it doesn't need to be your dream bathroom- white suite & tiles- made lovely with nice towels & toiletries & a few plants which are all things you can take with you.

I would encourage you to get it done, keep it simple but elegant. A 30-year-old bathroom would be massively off-putting to many people… if you can afford a lick of paint in the rest of the flat too, that can work wonders

Watch homes under the hammer. People renovate a while house for that!

How would you know what will fit and how much to get? I wouldn’t have a clue. If you buy a load of stuff that doesn’t fit or too many/too few tiles it’s a disaster.

I’m in the same situation and with the same dilemma.

Draw a floor plan of your bathroom to scale. Go to a bathroom showroom or look online —. Every item will have measurements. Calculate the areas you want tiling and then choose your tiles. Order more than you need. Tile shops will accept unused full packs back and refund the difference. It’s easier than you think.

Have just done my bathroom (not for move, for me!). Massively budget conscious but house not sold since 50s so a lot to do. DO NOT LOOK AT PINTEREST OF MAGAZINES!!! They are always like 'ooh I did this bathroom for £120 because I'm amazing at budgeting and DIY- erm yes my husband is a tiler and my dad a plumber and I get free stuff from a plumbing company' 😜

Bought items online but needed plumber and tiler as I couldn't do that. Did stuff like stripping it out and painting/ fitting which didn't require plumber. It all adds up so quickly. I chose absolute budget things throughout.

It was;
£1500 for bath/ shower/ taps/ toilet/ tiles
£200 sink and unit
£60 shower screen
£40 bath panel
£70 shower
£800 tiling
£3000 plumbing (I moved the toilet so that added £600!)
£200 Vinyl flooring/ ply under

So £7000 is not far off, I'd say.

Will it add £7000? I doubt. And property could go down by that much in 18 months.
Will it be stressful? Absolutely.

So unless you will enjoy it and use it for a year then I'd say you're better off painting and covering up the most awful bits and leaving the rest for the buyer to sort.

Is the kitchen and rest of the flat updated to the same as you plan the bathroom to be? If all the rest is new/modern/recently re-done, then I'd consider updating the bathroom to get it up to date to match the rest.

IF the rest equally is 30yrs old, or even just in need of also updating- then don't bother. We recently sold my nans house with various views from estate agents on whether to update things or not. Quite polar views. I regret the weeks spent repainting and 'modernising' some parts. It was a complete waste of money and time in the long run.

Personally I'd price it with a new bathroom needed in mind. I'd hate to buy somewhere the bathroom had just been done as I wouldn't want to needlessly rip out a brand new bathroom because of the waste, so I'd be stuck with someone else's taste for 5 years or so.

We did ours before moving and zero regrets, really helped to sell, particularly as the kitchen was a paint job. Cost about £7500 all in but that included quality tiles, a freestanding bath, a frameless shower, toilet, vanity sink and mirror cabinet, plus additional plumbing to reconfigure it. But we also spent weeks trawling websites, seeking sale products etc.
The whole experience was ace, we loved it, buyers loved it, and it’s stood us in good stead as we’ve got two bathrooms to do up in the new house! Also ask porcelanosa for their clearance lists, just bought some beautiful tiles for £15 sqm.

This. As a buyer I'd rather you knocked £5k off the asking price and I'll sort it myself to my own taste.

This.

If you're replacing fittings already there measure them & buy the same / similar sizes. I'm also a decent tiler, & painter (dad taught me) so that keeps costs down.

I see what you're saying Mynamechange but your plumbing costs sound v expensive. I suppose it depends on area, but my DH is a plumber & that's expensive. COL has a lot to answer for!

The environmental waste of putting in a new bathroom just to impress a hypothetical buyer, when hypothetical buyer might well take it out immediately, and whether OP can even get the investment back in supposedly increased selling price.

Irk. I can't stomach the obvious risk for waste waste waste.

I hadn't thought of the environmental side but you're right and it's an excellent point.

The rest of the flat is being freshened up, redecorated, recarpeted and a couple of bigger things that we wanted to do regardless. Kitchen has new doors and drawers but we haven't done anything more to it.

I obviously need to do a bit more homework on this!

While I don’t disagree, I don’t believe people rip out newly installed kitchens and bathrooms nearly as much as they claim they’re going to. Or even old ones. The OP clearly didn’t.

When we sold my late mum's house last year we were in exactly this position. The estate agent advised us not to bother - at best, it's not going to make any difference to the sale price. At worst, the new owners will rip it out for something they prefer anyway! Unless it's vital, I'd keep the cash in your pocket.

Just price it as is, new buyers can choose the bathroom they want.

Laughing at the poster advising them to "just" do it themselves when it turns out her own dh is a plumber.

Could you just replace the taps and flooring? If the sanitary ware is plain white and not cracked or stained it should last for decades. Ours is over 30 years old too but the only shabby looking bits are the taps , where the plating is slightly worn . If I had to update my bathroom I would be tempted to maybe get a new sink with storage, but the bath and loo are fine.

Daughter sold her flat 18months ago very quickly with a kitchen and bathroom that needed replacing. We just made sure it was very clean, especially shower curtain and repainted bathroom ceiling as walls fully tiled. Estate agent never mentioned any issues with bathroom and kitchen although my daughter made estate agent remove the ‘modern’ bathroom description. Daughter could never
afford to replace. I think I would just leave it as it is and price it accordingly. It could mean the difference to a buyer between being able to afford the flat a# it is rather than at a higher price.

7k sounds about right for something basic OP, assuming your husband isn't a plumber 😂 We've had a few quotes for a new bathroom recently and they were all about 7-9k from independent companies (we're S-E and want mid-range). 11k from Wickes!

I wouldn't have a clue where to start doing it myself - in fact one of the independent people said we'd have to source and buy everything ourselves, which was completely off-putting. I don't have time to trawl around builder's merchants or space to store a bathroom suite until they're ready to come and fit it.

If the bathroom isn't completely grotty and it's a starter home I would leave it. If it's a family home I would spend the money, because few people with kids are going to want to move into a house that needs work immediately.

I put my house on the market last year, it seriously needed a new kitchen, think cabinet doors chipped, drawers not shutting properly, bottom of the drawers falling out.
I told the EA that I would replace the kitchen but he said absolutely not, waste of money as the new buyer would probably want to change it anyway to their taste.
I sold it full asking price to the first person who viewed it.
EA was right!
If I were you I'd clean your bathroom to within an inch of its life, change the toilet seat, hang some nic nacs on the wall, a nice mirror, change the blind even put down some of those sticky floor tiles to give it a new lease of life / inject a bit of colour.
Definitely don't spend £7k, you could update it for a couple of hundred quid.

Just make it clean and tidy and the price will reflect the condition. As a buyer I would prefer to choose my new bathroom.