go to Chewy.com & look up small pet warmer, they plug into an outlet on your counter--we only eat @ the counter, never use our dining room

Its called "A small animal heated pad"=made by K & H manufacturing, inc--only negative thing its made in China

reduce the selling price for the cost of counter top change,

Personally we both dislike both stones, too cold to the touch.

On our new build hi-def lam was $600, Corrian $2800, stone 6-10K

We like the Corrian choices went with one that looks like quartz

Yes and I am one of them. Quartz, For many reasons.

I would suggest you have a Broker look at it and discuss pricing before you put $7000 to $10000 into granite counters. A proper market analysis /Broker opinion of value would be best. You may need something else done that you would get 100% return versus a deterrent because someone does not like your selection. You are welcome to call me to assess. Uptown Properties. "Work with a Broker Why choose less?" 30 years experience.

Quartz is a better option

Granite
 

Sell as is. You will not get more on the selling price if you install granite. Ask your realtor but most would say don't spend the money.

Thank you to everyone who has responded! Really appreciate your taking time to give us your opinions. Looking forward to seeing any more comments. Sounds like the majority of people feel the granite is not necessary and we would not recoup the total amount of upgrades. Thanks again!

Quartz is the way to go, IMHO. I would let the new owners pick their own countertop. I'm thinking of myself as the prospective buyer and would like to put my own personal stamp on my kitchen.

Sounds like it's unanimous! (I agree.)

Lots of experts in TV.




:BigApplause:

Is the counter top badly warn? I'd think twice before spending the money....however, depending on your price point for selling and how competive the market for a home like yours will Granite or Quartz countertops be expected by the buyer. What are the other homes in your price range offering?

Granite counters
 

When we were in the market, we were told that quartz countertops are man made and you cannot take food containers directly from the oven onto the quartz counters like you can for granite. Just food for thought.

Don't guess on what the buyer will like. Add $5,000 to the asking price and if the discussion comes up about some work that needs to be done offer to write the buyer a check for say 5,000 at closing to resolve the problem. You also leave the problems of finding a good craftsman's to the buyer.

Quick answer, No, IMHO. Sell as is. If the buyers want granite, they will install it themselves. Why spend money on a house that has the potential to sell within 15 minutes of listing.

Quartz is more popular now than granite. I would try selling it as is without an agent. Put it on Zillow and save 6%

When selling my last home two and a half years ago the realtor told me to leave my counters as is as I wouldn't reap the financial benefit I would spend and many people might not like whatever I chose to put in. just make sure countertops and counters are clear of all the clutter and room color is neutral so room looks tidy and larger and buyers can envision their own changes. If you watch any of the sell this home programs you will see that the main thing they do is remove the clutter from all over the house, remove excess furniture from rooms so rooms look larger and if necessary repaint any walls that are not neutral colors. Buyers don't want to see your favorite lilac or bright pink walls.

Well . . . .
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by VApeople (Post 1770531) 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.

We sold our spacious 2600 sf home last August in Fleming Island/Orange Park. The Realtor told us the house would sell just as well the way it was--laminate counter. Looked old fashioned to me, but some things are better left untouched.

We sold the house 1 day after it went on market!

I agree. I was in real estate. Especially with so many new builds available. My customers would love the extras but would choose a new build where they could put in what extras they wanted. Those extras go out of style & something new comes along. I don't know much about granite but if it really expensive I would go with something else especially if you are not going to live in the house. Extras are for your benefit so don't expect it will help sell a house. Most home sales price is figured by sq footage of the home. Wallpaper, wall colors & etc can turn a buyer off. I have always had white or off white walls, beige carpet, white and beige tile & our homes have always sold very fast. If you put in tile that looks like wood flooring keep it a light color. That is a good selling feature now days. The tile is more practical in Florida homes & so many want the hardwood floor look. Cheaper wood looking flooring can be put down but if water gets under it it will mildew. We lived in an apartment. The lobby had the fake wood. Hurricane flooded the lobby. Not much water but they had to take out the flooring & replace it with the tile that looks like wood floors.

Yes, we were told the same thing. We never take a pot off the stove and put it on our quartz countertop without having some kind of insulation under it.

Almost all realtors encourage the sellers to make some improvements in hoping for a potentially better sale. That is not true. Even with a new carpet, for example. The buyer rather buys one that can be improved to his or her taste.

I agree. Sell it as is.

I think that's true. You won't get a good return on your cost/

That would be a question to ask a realtor .

Only upgrade if you want to and not for resale. Most people will want to choose their granite/quartz according to their taste.

I "hear" that granite becoming dated as it is everywhere

I'm so conditioned to not place hot items on any counter tops. Trivets are for that purpose and knowing myself, I would still use trivets if I had granite.

Get an estimate for granite and give the sellers a credit for granite with a full price offer. Everyone has different taste. You could shoot yourself in the foot if yours doesn't match theirs...just a thought!

We've had all three plus Corian. The Corian scratched if you glanced sideways at it, the laminate dulled in one house, and the house we bought a year or so ago had laminate with rough patches that you couldn't really see, but you could definitely feel. That house was built in 2011, had one owner. We bought the house sight unseen while out of the country, expecting to do some things--we wanted the layout and especially the locale. It was a very good price. I was going to live with the laminate since we're snowbirds, but ultimately wanted something cleaner, crisper, and newer. We went with white quartz with a very tiny veining in it. It was NOT CHEAP! Almost twice as expensive as the upper level granite we put in our designer in 2013.

I would not put new countertops in before selling. If you have a clean, uncluttered house in a good location, you'll do well.

The absolute best thing you can do to sell your house quickly besides pricing it fairly is 2 do a deep cleaning of your house, declutter your house I getting rid of all of the countertop appliances in the kitchen and all the extra knick knacks, and getting rid of most of the photos and personal effects on the walls. That will be the best couple of hundred dollars you will spend. Don't forget to throw out most of your stuff in the garage or put it in storage for one or two months. The real estate agents will appreciate you doing that to show off your house to the best. Also take a walk around your house outside make sure your bushes are trimmed the nicely you have fresh mulch and plant a couple of flowers from Lowe's or Home Depot. Again the best couple of hundred dollars you will have ever spent.

If you don’t have stone, quartz or something in that category, expect to get less and sell slower. Also I’ve seen where people put in the lowest end granite just to sell the house and i felt it probably hurt the sale. If your current countertop looks great and is not outdated it’s better to have that and your buyers know they will have a little time before sinking $5k or more into the countertops than to invest $3k of your own into crappy looking stone and your buyers to know they will want to immediately sink $5k or more into the countertops. Just know that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses and if you go to some granite people and talk about what you want to do, they just might be able to hook you up with some scrap exotic granite for certain areas like the bar or an island and have a good looking complementary stone elsewhere that is not as expensive. After doing that deep dive into countertops, I couldn’t help but think that maybe there are more important considerations than granite. Remove all clutter. I’ve seen houses packed with stuffed animal collections and doll collections. Doilies everywhere. Wallpaper. Walls covered in decorations, cabinets topped with silk plants. Every room Painted a different color. Before spending a dime on granite or quartz clear out all the extra stuff, get rid on anything sitting on top of cabinets and tall furniture, strip wallpaper and paint the walls a fresh neutral color. Then look at cabinets and countertops. If you have outdated honey oak or worn cabinets, paint them. Then look at the countertops. Do some research. How out of date are the bathrooms and kitchen? Every day you hold onto the property while it’s on the market costs you money in holding costs (amenity fees, insurance, upkeep) and also drives the value down. Is it worth it to spend $5k on the kitchen and know you have to mark the price down and hold the house longer because your bathrooms require $25k in Reno’s? Or there’s $15k in flooring replacement? People get used to the quirks of a house once they own it but a buyer sees those as problems and problems =costs. Have some realtors come out and assess the property. Then decide what’s worth investing you cash into.

Wow!. You sold 3 homes during the pandemic, including 1 in TV? I am a former realtor and I wholeheartedly agree with you. Clean and decluttered is key! Remove all personal stuff. If you're moving anyway, box stuff up and get it out of the house. Good luck!

If new granite counters in the kitchen cost $5,000 then if you want the same return, you'll need to price the home $5,000 more. Chances are you're not going to see that return, in fact it will probably be priced the same without or without granite. What granite will do for you is if a buyer has 2 or 3 similar homes, similar prices, similar areas in mind, they may eliminate those that need more upgrades.

I sold my house in Baltimore in 12 hours after listing it. The buyer was the first person to see the home, she was the new manager of the Wegman's built across the street and she was in town for two days. She looked at 9 homes on day one and didn't like any. She saw our home at 10:am on day 2, and by noon they made an offer to buy the home. When the Realtor asked her why that home, she said it had the only updated kitchen, granite, new stainless steel appliances, recessed lighting, new floors, plantation shutters. We had remodeled the kitchen 3 years earlier. Had we not remodeled, she wouldn't bought our home, how many days it would of been on the market is a guess, it would been priced $35,000 cheaper without the remodel, so we would of had a different buyers market and maybe sold just as quick at the lower price.

I agree. Better to sell it without the improvement. Someone may want to completely redo the kitchen. Quartz has gained in popularity. We recently put in HansStone serenity. You could also price it as though it had new counter tops & offer the buyer a countertop credit. You may want to do this, because a potential buyer might use the laminate to negotiate the price down.

I agree too. We like the formica, on top of which I cannot see putting a lot of money into features solely for the purpose of getting a higher price when selling. Up north, when we replaced countertops following a flood a few years before selling, we did so with new formica. The house sold BEFORE it was on the market; we'd been in it only a handful of times after buying in TV. I had interviewed a handful of realtors, and one had been contacted by another realtor with a couple interested in our house. We hesitated; the place was a mess, nowhere near ready to sell, and we were in the midst of selling contents and making donations, knowing that we'd have a ton of work to do to get the house ready to sell. But we let them come—no staging, stuff piled up everywhere, people milling around, bedrooms needed flooring and painting—an appearance that would make any realtor cringe. However, they bought the house, paying more than we ever expected, and their offer included leaving the house 'as is.' Wow.... And what sold the house? The large dining room and what was known in the area as 'the million dollar view.' Accepting the house 'as is' is what sang to me! If the property is priced fairly, it will sell—with OR without granite!


As I said, any property will sell at the right price. But what attracts me to a house is location, location, location, for which I would be willing to pay more—way more so than the composition of the countertops....

I agree with the others who say don't upgrade before selling. However, I disagree with those who say to offer a credit with the price. Price the house properly and let those making an offer request the credit. Some people may not plan on buying new counters.

Sell it quickly, without changes, before the pandemic torches the stock market. Just my opinion.

Granite Countertops
 

The edging on a granite countertop is just as important as picking a pleasant neutral color.

I don’t know if it will make your home sell faster or not but the wife and I like Ultimate Granite or Duncan Granite and Tile.

Yes, because the population of the USA hasn’t been able to spend much in the last three months and is itching to spend the extra savings on plans they’ve made for the cash they accumulated during that period. Oh wait, that would cause the market to rise. Hmmm.

I strongly agree with mepoole comment.

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