I think this is going to vastly depend on the price point of your home and neighborhood. Also what is the remaining condition of your house?

But with the info here, assuming you keep the tub, but ditch the floor and wall tile, and sink. Replace the fixtures with white, and find some kind of shower curtain to coordinate instead of the track/glass.

I would do white toilet and sink and have the tub resurfaced to white. Not the ideal solution but you're not going to be there anyway to be annoyed by it.

Agree with jerzeegirl. It's the best way to neutralize it all.

And family used to wonder why I always insisted on white sinks, toilets and tubs. :)

Well, thank you all! That was a pretty quick consensus! The other possibility I'd thought of was offering something like $10K as a giveback for the renovation, but not sure if that would be a turnoff. The house is in a good wooded neighborhood - but of course, the original tile surround / walls (the dark brown-pink stuff) are in absolutely perfect shape, and DH doesn't want to disturb. I thought of the tub refinishing - may check tomorrow and see if they can do it without disturbing the walls, but I suspect not...

At the same time, given some of the bathrooms I've seen in nice houses where we're looking to go, mismatched stuff doesn't seem that uncommon! Very few are in great shape, unless the house is new.

Thanks again, and wish us luck!!

-ahm

For grins, here's a link to a Picasaweb album. MiscHousePhotos.

I thought an offer of cash for renovation was a good idea. I probably would add up the necessary repairs and offer that amount. Someone else may want a new tub and might prefer to pick it out themselves. Sounds like the only repairs would be the toilet and floor. Your other bathroom is so nice, that most people would be happy to get your home with only a small bath to redo.

Thanks, Karenseb!

Even with a credit, I think we have to do something now anyway - since right now there is no toilet in there, and the old tile was loose where the leak had been. I wonder if that leads me back to just putting in the new (but not overly pricy) tile and a middle-of-the-road white toilet, since they'd probably use white for any future work. But I think to advertise it as a 2.5 bath house, a toilet has to actually be in place?

Kind of a circular problem - I'd rather just give them the cost of any repairs in cash, but some repairs may be needed to sell it at all...

Thanks!

Again, I think it's more of a question for your realtor. I would fix the tile and install a white toilet. But likely call it a day. It's then a functioning bathroom.

Overall condition and comparable housing stock dictates the price of the house. I don't think you generally want to start offering credits for specific design elements, only for things that don't function. Because design is very subjective to the buyer. Someone might be fine with it, someone might want to gut the whole house. You never know!

If it's not okay for you to be annoyed by it, why would it be okay for someone else to be?

Because selling a house is about marketing so it's attractive to other people; it's really not about whether the buyer is going to love everything you have done. Believe me, they won't. I have seen buyers gut nice kitchens just because they could. You cannot predict what a buyer will want; your goals is to make the house as attractive as possible for those who come to see it.

And yes, if you are advertising as 2.5 bathrooms, you need 2.5 functional bathrooms.

I agree you need a functioning bathroom, not a remodeled bathroom. I'd just put in a white toilet and repair (not replace) the tile floor.

Having recently bought a house that needs updates to the master bath, my vote is to just install a white toilet and fix the tile. I buy new toilet seats, soft close, easy off, wooden... And they only come in white. Only one of our three toilets is white, and the mismatch is driving me crazy.

A twin house that we looked at has an updated master bath and I haaaaated it. I'd rather have the bathroom that I can justify updating.

That seals it - ordering the (mid-level) White toilet, soft-close seat. The buyer can do the rest, even if it involves removing/replacing the white toilet.

Thanks to EVERYONE who commented on this! It helps more than you know!

-Aletia

A white toilet and a corresponding floor would be a good start. You can reglaze the tub and tile for several hundred dollars to match the toilet, then paint the vanity cabinet white. This will go a long way to brighten up the bathroom and won't cost a lot of $, and most buyers won't feel so overwhelmed, thinking that they have to remodel an entire bathroom. Add to that a new coat of light, bright paint on the walls and you almost have a brand new bathroom that most buyers will appreciate. Good luck.

We also just bought new toilets for our house. We bought Mansfield Toilets. They have the same flushing mechanism as Toto, but are made in the USA. they are fantastic toilets, and cheaper than Toto. We love that they are comfort height also. They were also cheaper than the stuff you would buy at Lowe's, HD, etc. Check these out before you order anything.