Thinking about selling your Maryland home in the next five to 10 years? Remodeling your bathroom can be a great way to increase your home’s market value and desirability to potential buyers. In fact, a full remodel may not even be necessary to see a strong return on your investment: Updating to a glass shower alone can add tremendous value and can help you to sell your home more quickly.
Different Types of Baths
Before we dive into how much updating your shower can increase your home’s value, it’s important to understand what potential buyers look for when searching for their dream home. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), 58% of prospective home buyers reported a preference towards homes with two or 2½ baths. If you currently have 1½ baths, it’s easy to see how rounding out that second half for an additional full bathroom can attract more potential buyers.
Half Bath
Half baths are bathrooms that contain only a sink and toilet. These types of bathrooms are commonly seen on the ground level of multistory homes; however, they can also be found in hallways between bedrooms of ranch-style homes. Because these bathrooms are smaller in size, adding both a bathtub and shower to make it a full bath can be difficult. It may only be possible to create a ¾ bath by adding either a shower or a tub.
Full Bath
A full bathroom is complete with all the plumbing fixtures you could hope for: toilet, sink, shower, and bathtub. Usually, a master bathroom will have all of these fixtures in place while the other bathrooms that accompany bedrooms are either full baths or ¾ baths. Within the same survey by NAHB, 80% of prospective home buyers listed “a full bath on the main level” as one of the top most-wanted features out of more than 200 features offered as choices.
¾ Bath
When a bathroom contains only three of the four fixtures that comprise a full bath, it’s considered a ¾ bath. These bathrooms may have either a bathtub or a shower — never both, or it would be considered a full bath. Sometimes, an appraiser may not distinguish the difference between a full and ¾ bath. If that’s the case, you may end up reaping the financial benefits of a full bath on your home’s listing even if it’s technically considered a ¾ bath.
Hot Selling Tip: According to a recent survey of homeowners, 27% removed their master bathroom tub to make room for an extra-large shower. Of the survey’s respondents, 91% desired a bigger shower rather than having both a tub and shower. This growing trend can end up increasing your home’s value — especially if your property is low on space!
Adding a Shower to a Half Bath
The value you see from your bathroom remodel largely depends on the number of bathrooms that exist in your home already and where you live. Homeowners can easily add a shower to their half bath for a cost-effective bathroom remodel that leaves them with a ¾ bath (or full bath depending on your appraiser).
Simply adding a shower to a half bath can increase your home’s real estate value by an average of 5.7%, particularly if the number of bathrooms is equal to the number of bedrooms in your home. If you live in a vintage house with fewer bathrooms to accommodate guests and family members, adding a full bath can increase its value even more.
Updating a Shower in an Existing Full Bath
Depending on your location and the specific renovations you complete, you can recoup between 60.2% and 67.2% of your bathroom remodeling costs at resale. When it comes to getting the strongest return on your investment, you may want to consider the following shower upgrades for your Maryland bathroom remodel:
Glass Shower Enclosures
Replacing a shower curtain with a frameless glass shower enclosure is an excellent way to make your bathroom appear larger. This trend has grown in recent years, and for more reasons than its sleek appearance: These glass enclosures are much easier to clean than framed glass shower doors.
Aging in Place
According to the 2020 United States Census Report, all Baby Boomers will be aged 65 or older by the year 2030. With that in mind, many prospective home buyers will be well into their seniority and seeking homes with accommodations for aging in place. For this reason, it may be a good idea to update your shower’s accessibility. This could mean installing a walk-in shower or bathtub or simply adding a handrail to your existing shower.
Thompson Creek for All Your Bathroom Remodeling Needs
Ready to take the next step and begin your Maryland bathroom remodeling project? Thompson Creek has the team you need to get the job done right. Our expert designers listen carefully to our clients’ needs, offering custom-tailored solutions that leave their homes looking fabulous.
Increase your home’s value by requesting a bathroom remodeling consultation with Thompson Creek today!