Switching to Granite?
 

We have a designer home (Iris) located in Lake Deaton. We have high definition laminate in our kitchen. We want to put our house up for sale in the near future. Would our house sell easier with granite? Thanks in advance!

In my opinion, a lot of the granite countertops are ugly, and you might choose a pattern that a future buyer would hate.

I think it is better to just sell the house as it is.

:agree:

a lot of people prefer quartz.

Agreed, very possible a buyer would not like your choice and would toss it and buy new one

A lot of people who list their house for sale will provide a list of upgrades with the actual cost they paid for them, and expect the buyer to pay full price for the upgrades. Typically, you are lucky to get 50 to 60 percent back for upgrades. So, if you want to spend $6000 on granite and get an extra $3000 in a higher sales price, then go for it. But, it would be a waste of money.

Keep it as it is.

Do your counter tops look like they need to be replaced? If not leave them..when I bought my home I was glad the house needed upgrading and I could do it the way I liked..not them picking something cheap just for looks & to sell..

Bingo.

Why don't you put "stone countertop allowance" in the listing and discount it accordingly? Also lower selling price= lower taxes!!

We have granite, the only problem the granite is constantly cold and cools plates and food quickly, we solved that problem early, purchased small pet warmers from Chewy , we place our plates onto of them and our food stays warm

Sell as is. We did. Of course we had some lookers who said they would have preferred granite and some who really liked the high-def laminate. They can always change it to something of their liking.

I would consult your realtor, all Villages homes are basically the same. A few floor plans, so the only thing that makes your home stand out from others are the upgrades and the features of the lot. If the home looks tasteful and has features that buyers are looking for then it may not be necessary or maybe the realtor could suggest another upgrade that makes more sense. They are the professionals. I have been a realtor for 24 years and have seen many updates that made no sense financially. Andrea Bonivich, Sellstate Superior Realty

Price & price is what determines salability, I've instructed the Admiral, to sell the house for what you're comfortable with, we're living without any financial benefit form our house--and if you have enough assets, don't let selling your house for a predetermined value be the determining factor--your personal comfort is what counts, every month a house is on the mkt costs you $$--sell it quickly and get it off your mind and move on

I work for a homebuilder who is not in TV. We use quartz. It is maintenance free nonporous and nonabsorbant so it will not draw in moisture from leftover food. Also harder than granite so less chance of scratching. No resealing like other tops.

Leave it as is.
 

Our house had granite when we moved in and my wife hated both the pattern and that it was granite. We replaced with quartz. Putting granite in is expensive and as others have noted, may not add to the house's value to all buyers.

The thing right now is quartz. If you see the more appointed Spec homes in The Villages they have quartz countertops. But it is hard to get your money back in such a short time frame. I would have a listing rep from The Villages come in and look at it and let you know if you need to do it. If you have a view site people expect it. If it’s an interior site not so much.

Decluttering and a fresh coat of paint is a better ROI.

Depends if you are selling your house at the going price for an Iris? If the answer is yes add granite , it would make a difference to me! Just do t go crazy, keep neutral. But over a certain price I expect to see granite or quartz. ( I prefer granite) but I wouldn’t pull quartz up if it’s down. Two places kitchen and garages can sell a house

I’ve been reading “Fine Homebuilding” and “The Journal of Light Construction” for about thirty years. They have both had articles suggesting that granite is going out of style among the high end houses that establish styles, which means it will eventually filter down to The Villages. I think quartz and products made of ground up stone or glass in a matrix are more trendy right now. I happen to like high-end laminate, and I’ve had it for years. It’s a great product. However, a huge number of people see granite as a big step up—it’s considered desirable. When I bought a house in The Villages, it came with chocolate-colored granite. Not a color I would choose, but I’m definitely not going to pay to replace it. So I’m stuck with it. Oh, well. One thing you could do would be to provide the buyers a budget discount for replacement. Or pay a kitchen decorator specialist to guide you in the material and color choice.

I've had both, granite and high def laminate and while I like the looks of the granite, I find that I prefer the high def laminate because 1) It's warmer, 2) Granite requires a special cleaner to keep from getting a "cloudy" look to it with other cleaning products, and 3) If you drop a breakable item on high def laminate, your chances of breakage is a lot less than with granite (or any other "hard" surface counter). I'm with the others, sell as is and offer a counter allowance if your high def laminate looks worn, but let the new buyer decide!

Do quartz instead of granite - no maintenance, doesn’t require sealing, very durable. Light colors help resale!

I wouldn't change to sell unless it looks bad or is marked up.

As a potential buyer in TV, I'd rather see and buy a house with pink Formica at a "fair" market price and then remodel.

As others stated, all home improvements will never get back their full cost at time of sale, unless you're a professional house flipper and have low cost basis before renovations.

We have sold 3 homes (2 during pandemic) in the past 6 months. All 3 were very different (NH, Cape Cod & TV) and sold within 24 hours. One had granite and the others had Corrian. Pricing the home right, decluttering and cleanliness are the most important factors to consider when selling. In The Villages, a golf cart garage and location determine where your home falls within the recommended price range for that model, as you are competing with other like models. A clean, uncluttered, bright home will sell quickly here regardless of the countertops. Best of luck, save your money and price accordingly.

Great idea!

I would leave it as is, and if it becomes an issue, the price could be adjusted to make the buyer feel good.

Personally, I hate granite. I think it's not only ugly, it's very passe. If you are going to spend the money, and watching House Hunters, it seems like it's worth it..... go with quartz. It beats granite hands down, and is much nicer looking. Granite would turn me off looking at a house, quartz would tempt me.

I’ve had both and personally prefer laminate. When we purchased our house I asked the realtor what upgrades would help the resale value. He said Possibly granite countertops but laminate sells well too

Many including me don't like granite. Don't waste your money. Price your home well and it will sell. No one is not going to buy a well priced home they love just over a countertop that can easily be changed by them.

When we were looking, granite or quartz countertops were on our "would like to have" list, rather than our "must have" list. It didn't matter to us if the house we bought had hi-def laminate.

Can’t go wrong with laminate we find that no matter what surface the food is prepared on the quality/taste of the food has nothing to do with the counter top.:icon_wink:

I doubt that you will recoup the cost...

As a buyer, I would like the fun of picking my own counter tops.

No!!! Granite is too personal, I sold real estate for 20 yrs and you will not recoup your money. You can offer a allowance to new buyer for them to get granite after close, that works well.

Our food gets cold from the ceiling fan. What is the pet warmer that you bought from Chewy?

You never recoup the cost of installation on the short term. If you like trendy, that us fine but just like this year’s hot color, it will be different next year. I personally love granite, you can put very hot items on granite and you cannot do that on quartz. Sealing granite is easy and only has to be done a couple of times a year. I would let the buyer pick their own and not make an issue out of it, unless it is damaged.

It has been my experience that when you are selling a home don't go crazy at the end and invest a lot of money. The laminate that you have, assuming it is in good condition, should just be left alone. Remember people buy houses and then they made changes to their taste.

may sell easier, but you won't recoup the cost. plus, maybe the potential buy won't like the new counter top

Just had a conversation with our realtor about this. He sold us our house in August of last year. I was actually asking about how much we could build before “over building“ in terms of building a birdcage on a corner lot and enclosing our small lanai. He offered, unsolicited, that there were two obstacles as a realtor he commonly encounters that need to be overcome: #1 was lack of granite and #2 was an unenclosed lanai. To put in context, we have a screened lanai that backs up to another screened lanai.”kissing lanais.” He offered that, in order to get the price over $400,000, you need to have these two things. I’m just leaving this here without regard to stating whether or not I agree because I have no idea. But this realtor is knowledgeable and experienced and ,at the time I was having a conversation, it did make some sense. But some of the other comments also makes sense and it does make a huge difference as to what the buyer is looking for i.e. turn key or fixer-upper. And since there’s a debate about whether granite is still favored, maybe you could replace the word granite with ‘upgraded countertops” and it may have more application. We have a very expensive granite back home but did not blink an eye really at the high definition laminate that we have in the villages. But I do think we would have views it even more favorably if it had some form of “upgraded countertops.“ We were looking for something we didn’t have to do a lot to in order to enjoy the home. We did encounter a house while looking for this house that had extreme granite that they had spent a lot of money on that was horrendous. It would’ve been awful to have bought that house and had to rip a perfectly good yet atrocious looking granite. So there’s a lot of angles to this apparently. Good luck.