What floor is the current bathroom on?

I understand the situation you are in. Our house is currently under contract and it has taken a long time to sell. We live in Northern NJ in a very nice community with multi-million dollar houses. Ours was priced in the $700k range. Our home is a 1920's colonial with 4 br, 1 1/2 ba. Our first floor is very spacious and has the 1/2 ba and there is a toilet in the basement. The main bath(on the second floor) was completely redone almost 2 years ago, and is a small room, just 6' x 6 1/2'. Our problem was the lack of a master suite. It would cost at least $75k to add on the house to create a master suite. Our realtor advised us not to add-on because he did not know if we would recoup the cost of the addition, considering the current housing market. We were also told that a full or 3/4 ba in the basement would not help, since they are not supposed to be included in the multiple listing.

What color are the fixtures in your bathroom? If they are not a neutral color, but in good condition, I would try to neutralize the walls and trim, etc. I would remove wallpaper, possibly update hardware and lighting, and make sure the room sparkles! If the fixtures are tired looking, you might consider reglazing the tub and replacing the toilet and sink in white. Above all consider your price. We had lots of lookers but no takers until we had a significant price reduction. Good luck!

Listen to your agent. If someone else likes the house enough but needs 2 brms, they'll be 'creative' enough to look for possible fixes, and then do the job the way THEY want to (and you won't have left yourself open to new problems with new const.).

I'd listen to your agent, too. Anyone who is willing to look at an older home, and who knows older homes, knows that few and small bathrooms are part of the deal.

You won't be catering to the new subdivision type buyer so the bathroom situation should be expected.

If anyone here has words of advice, or encouragement, about how to sell a house with one bathroom, I'd be most appreciative. We live here with two small children and it's fine for us, yet I know in this day and age many people would find this unacceptable. We'll be competing mostly against houses with a 3BR 1 1/2 bath setup, in the range of $425-$475K. (Two full bathrooms are rare.) My biggest worry: In this market we won't get many lookers even in the door. The agent did say the one bathroom is going to be our toughest challenge, but what to do about it?

There are days when even 2 bathrooms aren't enough... I have no clue how I lived in houses with one bathroom.. lol

I would make the house as presentable as possible and adjust the price accordingly. Believe it or not, by me, there are 1 bathroom homes selling. One just sold, it was listed at $190k, don't know what it sold for.

What floor is the current bathroom on?

Terriks, the OP said: Upstairs we have three small bedrooms, and one small functional but dated bathroom.

You'll get lookers in the door if your price reflects the fact that you only have one bath. If you're trying to get the same money that the sellers with 1.5 baths have then I think you'll have more of a problem. If your realtor plays up the other facets of your home, you'll get the old house enthusiast who knows the pitfalls of buying a home your age and is willing to live with the one bathroom or be willing to resolve the issue by reconfiguring the home to their needs. Freshen up the bathroom with new paint, repair the cracked tiles, make sure it's clean and uncluttered and sell the home for what it is, an older home with one bathroom.

Well speaking as someone who is buying an older house, I have to say one bath isn't that big of a deal. We just got a contract on our condo (jumps up and down with glee!) and went for a final look at a few possible places to buy yesterday. We had two favorites - a smaller place with two baths and a bigger place with one. We picked the bigger place despite only one bath. (And that bath doesn't even have a shower head!)

Ultimately we chose this place because we liked other aspects of the house and we knew that most of the old houses we liked simply don't have the "amenities" that newer places do. We don't really need two baths as it is just the hubby and I living there and we don't need a master suite as we have cats not kids, etc. Just remember, there are as many different buyers as there are houses and not everyone is looking for the same things.

Good luck!

Terriks, the OP said: Upstairs we have three small bedrooms, and one small functional but dated bathroom.

Thanks, I guess I didn't read carefully enough.

"Listen to your agent not all buyers want the same house."

Good advice. Personally I prefer older homes. Older to me is 1920, not 1965. I prefer both the older style and the older floor plans. Great rooms are just not for me. I looked forever tying to find a nice little older house, well maintained but in original condition and un-remuddled. As a buyer I may be in a minority, but I am not alone. Some of the people looking at older homes in older neighborhoods do NOT wish they could have a new one instead.

Siobhanny5--since most of the homes in your area have 1.5 baths, I really wouldn't lose too much sleep over the fact that you have only 1 bath. People will know this when looking in your community. What will turn people off is if the bathroom isn't updated. You've got one small bathroom and if I were in your shoes, I would make sure I got the biggest bang for the buck in that room. I've been in the market to buy a house and I can't tell you how many homes I saw where the owner did piecemeal updates to their bathrooms and you wondered why they didn't update this or that. When I sold my house, the only thought that I wanted my buyer to have when they walked out of my bathroom was that this was a tastefully updated room. My house was built by Levitt and the bathrooms were small and I was competing against newer more expensive developments. My advice, if you can swing it is that if your flooring, toilet, counter, light fixtures are outdated or damaged, replace them. If your tile and/or tub is outdated, but in otherwise good shape consider calling in a good reglazer, no need to tear this stuff out and replace it. If you've got outdated wall treatments, roll up your sleeves, take it down, prime the wall, and paint it yourself. Hideous bathroom cabinets can usually be repainted, but make sure you do the proper prep work and pay attention to details, otherwise it can look cheesy. If you are color challenged the way I was (i had to be medicated everytime I had to make a color choice), you may want to borrow a couple books from the library that have pictures of nice bathrooms just to get a sense of the neutral color scheme you're looking for. Above all else, declutter the bathroom. It's tough when that's you're only bathroom, but it does make a big difference. Good luck and keep us posted on your experience.

I was watching the HGTV show -- something like "My House is Worth What?" The realtor was appraising a 1920's house and "marked them down" for not having a master suite with an attached bathroom. I would not have thought that would have been common in the 1920's.

As an aside, ever notice how the realtors on that show never mention the market conditions in the owner's area? If they came to my house, they would say "love this, love that..." --- if I were listing your house today.... I'd list it for $25,000 less than I would have four years ago. Congratulations.

PS: my friends had a very old house in VA with one full bathroom upstairs. It worked for them until she got pregnant. I am sure there are many young, childless couples that wouldn't care.

I really dislike "My House is Worth What?". It always seems like the homeowners want their house to be worth a certain amount so that they can take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for some frivolity. That kind of attitude is one of the reasons that the housing market is where its at now. The home as piggy bank syndrome.

I dislike that show too, terriks.......it seems to perpetuate a dangerous frame of mind. If a realtor could sit down with a calculator and crank out a magic number at which your house would sell if you invested X more dollars in it, they'd have ventured out of realty into fortune telling. It's one thing to ask an expert what renovations could or should pay you back for the dollars invested, but that doesn't have enough substance to build an half hour television show around.

I know the 1920's house that was featured on My House is Worth What - it's in my town. It's on a street with many other bungalows - all of which were built with 1 bathroom. It's in a town full of old homes - all of which came with 1 bathroom. Except for a handful, there hasn't been anything new built here since about 1970 - due to our historic preservation/no tear down rules and regs. In addition, if you actually look at the realtors who sell homes in this city, that TV realtor's name isn't to be found.

Not one of my neighbors complained about "no master suite" when we bought our homes and most of us have 1 bathroom or are working on adding a second.

That tv show isn't quite in tune with the reality it's supposed to represent.

Glad to hear that others don't like My House is Worth What? I think the show is really annoying, including its hostess. Homes are consistently rated down for having no "master suite." You'd be hard pressed to find any home with such an animal where I live. Most of the homes in my area went up from about 1890 to 1930, and most have one full bathroom although it is also very common to have a toilet/sink in the basement. Like many, I built a full bathroom with shower around that toilet although my basement is not, technically, finished.

We did see the host of MHIWW on Fox News one time giving commentary about housing values -- so I guess she is not just a pretty face.

I agree with terriks: I really dislike "My House is Worth What?". It always seems like the homeowners want their house to be worth a certain amount so that they can take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for some frivolity. That kind of attitude is one of the reasons that the housing market is where its at now. The home as piggy bank syndrome.

One couple "made" $25,000 on their home so now they can put in that extra bath or do the kitchen or whatever. I looked at my DH and said "great, based on what this person tells them they will immediately spend all the equity in their house."

Interesting that the real estate agents may not even be local. If an outsider appraised my house, they may mark us down for not having a bath tub in the master bath -- does it matter that NO ONE in our sub has a bathtub in their master bath? Back in the early 80's when the house was built it was a real luxury just to have a master bath, however small?

I just have to add that show Hidden Potential. It is where the buyers pick three homes and the architect mocks-up what they could look like if they spent thousands and thousands on renovations.

I always wonder with the glut of homes on the market -- why not just find a house that better matches what you are looking for? Also, what are the chances that the buyers actually got the house (they never really say - only what they "picked") and actually did all those renovations. I would say slim.

I've been following the posts and just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone. I feel ten times better reading this thread. Such good points here and encouragement!

Merry ann: I like older homes as well! I doubt I'll ever have this thing I have so far seen mostly on television or read about here: the master suite. LOL. I know they exist in old homes--just not in my price range in NYC!

Corkie: Thanks for empathizing! My tub, sink and toilet are sort of a darker beige, with the toilet seat an off-white. I have thought of putting in a new white sink and toilet, and reglazing the tub. The shower and wall tile is actually not half-bad: a very neutral beige. The floor also isn't bad (brown 4 by 4 tiles with off-white diamond insets), but it's such a small room that maybe instead of replacing cracked tiles we might think about updating there with new, lighter tile; that wouldn't be such a big deal and the agent thought that was maybe the single improvement worth making. There is a light soffit over the sink with a florescent light. We've talked about getting rid of that and putting in a new wall-mounted fixture over the sink. (The agent thinks we can just leave the soffit.) If we can keep the changes small and inexpensive, without TOO much disruption, might do it. I have to say I was surprised the agent said not to really do anything, so this makes me think twice about the advice on those TV shows you're all talking about, too!

Chasezone: When we repainted the medicine cabinet white and replaced the knobs with "poreclain" knobs, that made a HUGE difference, all for about $5. We're lucky that we already got rid of the wallpaper when we moved in!

Roselvr: I hear you about # of baths. It really hasn't been so bad for two adults and a small child; only recently has having just one bathroom become more of an issue, now that my toddler also needs the toilet!

In the end, we may limit the updating to decluttering, cleaning, a fresh shower curtain and window treatment, and new floor tile. Depending on cost of those things, then we might do new light fixtures. May not bother with replacing the sink and toilet and reglazing the tub, though I should add the sink is part of a huge wood vanity with faux "marble" countertop; that vanity covers up a radiator, too, so if we replaced the vanity with a smaller one, we'd have an exposed radiator unless we covered that with something else, too.

Cosmikat: Thanks for the reminder that there as many different buyers as there are houses!

To everyone, thank you again for your words of wisdom.

I think since others in your area are similar I'm not sure it is a big deal. I wonder how many of the 1/2 bath ones are on a main floor vs. the basement. To me having one in the basement would be no different than only having one like you do.

I think the key for you would make sure that it is de-cluttered and that everything looks in good shape and extremely clean than putting a bunch of money into updating things. Then price it well against your competition.

I would rather have an outdated, but well maintained property than a re-muddled who knows what they did to just make it look good part.

I'd replace the light fixture and *maybe* tile the floor with larger tiles (set on the diagonal to make the room look larger). What would it cost to just replace the cracked tiles -- and keep the 'vintage' look? Is the wall tile OK? If the sink, etc. are in good shape, leave them alone.

Clean, uncluttered, maintained. That's probably going to do the most good, and it only costs elbow grease. Someone should be happy to find a comfortable home that doesn't cost a fortune!

Larger tiles set on a diagonal are not typical in vintage bathrooms. If you do replace tile, stick with smaller tiles.

However, I wouldn't bother changing out this room. Replace broken tiles, keep your bathroom sparkling, make sure the new accessories match the current color scheme and call it a day.

'We did see the host of MHIWW on Fox News one time giving commentary about housing values -- so I guess she is not just a pretty face.'

Actually, the host of MHIWW was at the time selected, the youngest, and I believe, the first female to win on Donald Trump's 'The Apprentice.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Kendra Todd

I always try to keep in mind that anything presented on television is for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied upon in any way- especially when making big bucks decisions.

I say leave it alone. I just bought a one bathroom home and while I certainly would have preferred two the property had everything else I wanted, so oh well. I had planned and budgeted for a new powder room in the basement/family room area, but by the time the contractor got around to me we had already adjusted so skipped it.

I am an empty nester caring for an elderly parent, so that's three adults and one bathroom. It is a bit of an adjustment but certainly no huge inconvenience.