I know that you can do quartz and corian with an undermount sink. You can use tile and use a tile-in sink. Granite tiles are much cheaper than slab. If your runs of counter are small, try visiting several shops and see if you can use a remnant. Maybe if you pick a very common color you can piece together a couple remnants. I agree than putting in laminate might be less attractive to a potential buyer at resale.

live_wire -- where are you located? We are in the DC metro area, and I feel like the granite prices are SO high here! I have yet to see $40/sf, but maybe we are looking in the wrong places...

your husband's right. laminate will kill when you try to sell. granite will add value to your condo beyond what you pay for it, especially as the market comes back in the next few years.

bite the bullet and go find yourself a good, inexpensive, neutral-colored granite. call fabricators and tell them your situation and explain that you're open to whatever type of granite as long as the price is right. remember--this down market is having a big impact on remodeling-related businesses (like countertop people). they will work with you right now just to get some business, if you find the right one.

I'd disagree with the comments made here, in that the value of a granite countertop is in relationship to the area you are in. If you really want granite do it...otherwise don't as you will not recover your expense unless the "norm" in your area is granite and you don't have it. An undermount sink is not suggested for laminate (water damage). If the countertop is a standard sized one...try getting a pre-made corian type or granite countertop at HD, etc.

One simple, relatively inexpensive option without the fuss of tiling in a sink would be to purchase a short run of stone, 3-4' maybe, cut your sink and faucet openings into it, and then tile the edge and rest of the counter with tile of the same stone.

You can also do butcher block with an undermount sink though I don't know that it would cost much less, if any.

An undermount sink is an awesome thing. I discounted HOW awesome till I decided on drop-ins for the master bath. Wish I had a do-over on that one.

Does your area have what they call pre-fab granite slabs? We saved money by getting a pre-fab and having that installed. It comes with a bullnose edge already and is about 8' long. Perfect for a smaller kitchen. And easier to fabricate. Check it out.

Red

I agree with redbazel. Look for prefab granite. For us, it was the cheapest option. Even cheaper than some of the nicer laminates. You can buy it from this website, although shipping costs may be prohibitive. While it's not necessarily the highest quality granite, it's decent, especially for a small condo kitchen.
Prefab Granite

We have pics on our blog of the installed kitchen counters.

Here is a link that might be useful: House blog

Call this number for Costco Countertops: 1-877-483-6226. If you are not a member and they ask you can tell them you would be willing to join in order to purchase your countertops through them, but you want to find out if it would be worthwhile first. If you are already a member, great. Tell them you want to find out if countertops are available in your area. They will have the sales person for the company that does Costco's counters in your area call you. He/She can give you an idea of the cost of granite, Corian or Zodiac Quartz in your area throught them. If you are interested after that, they will come to your Condo, bring all the samples and colors to choose from, measure, and give you a firm quote at no charge. Then if you decide to use them, you actually pay Costco in advance and Costco pays them when the job is done.

The other least expsensive way I found was to find out who the local builders and tradesmen use. Sometimes a smaller shop and sometimes not, but if it is a smaller shop, they will often give you a better price than you can get elsewhere. It might be more than they get from the tradesmen but less than what the tradesmen would charge you. I also found going through a local lumbar mart that caters to the trades netted me a quote about 700.00 less than what I was quoted by a large company and it is the same large company that does it for the lumbar mart! They just don't mark it up any where near as much. Let us know how you make out.

Sue

There are two other options if you are DIY inclined. One is soapstone-- check the archives for people who did that. The second is a cast concrete countertop. I'm not sure what kind of DIY experience or inclination you have, so perhaps these aren't options.

I just realized that the op was from April 29. I don't know if the OP is still following the thread or not, of if they already have a countertop.

alg1026, are you still looking for a counter or did you decide on something already?

Sue