Another fan of granite here. I've never heard anyone say it's a turn off for many. I just don't think that's true. I.m looking for a house in a highish price point and would be perfectly happy with granite. My kitchen turnoffs are dark cabinets and tile floors. Strong preference for white cabinets and hardwood floor that matches the rest of the house. And I'd also really prefer not to redo the kitchen

OP we have looked at many new houses. Granite seems to be still going strong in new homes. Not black, gray or neutral.

Op if you are in the DC area, prices are so high that many buyers want the renovation rolled into the price. You can also do some updating that is appreciated by buyers with the idea that they can replace the whole kitchen later -- but that could take years. So a nice counter top and floor in the meantime is a selling point. I would go standard -- mid color granite and tile or wood flooring. Wood style tiles sounds very trendy to me -- I would avoid. You can also ask your realtor, who has looked at many homes and sold many.

Anonymous wrote:
We're thinking about selling our house within the next yr and will need to update our kitchen counters and floor. The kitchen floor is roughly 12X12 and the counter is about 28 sq ft. About how much would this cost and how long will it take? I've seen a lot of gray in kitchens and flooring tile that is more rectangular shaped... is that the best way to go? What would appeal to the most potential buyers? TIA

Hey,
I would prefer buying home having neat and clean kitchen with some granite counter tops as Granite is more in trend these days and are also durable compared to other stones . If you are planning to sell then your home then apply granite counter top and attractive backslash with dark coloured cabinets which will give stylish look to your kitchen .Talking about cost ,It depends on which type of material you are choosing for designing your home .

And, if you have replacement tiles, you can swap out that cracked tile and maybe have the grout professionally cleaned.

You could do a new formica counter very inexpensively.

OP, here. Thanks for all the comments. I'm really torn. I agree with what many have said, I'm house hunting too and detest it when people throw on a new countertop, call it renovated and jack up the price. Yes, the idea of doing updates is coming in part from the realtor we talked too. As someone mentioned, the kitchen sets the tone, especially when it's the first rm you see, like our home. Our counters are a most hideous light nondescript beigeiish formica and the floor tiles have cracked. We aren't trying to hide anything, we spent the money else where in the house but we want it too look nice. We have a neighbor on the market whose house is nearly identical and they didn't do the kitchen - same ugly countertops. It's been sitting over a month. We're thinking maybe some updates to the ugliest things in our house will help. We are not planning on raising the price based on the kitchen, just want to get it sold. Based on our neighbor's house, I'm getting the impression that many buyers lack the imagination, $, time, and/or desire to do. As someone said, they have kids and not time to do updates. (Although we are planning on buying a house that needs updated so we can make it our own.) Please keep ideas coming - be specific as possible.

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure there are some buyers who buy with a look to upgrade to their tastes. However, many don't have the time or interest. We didn't consider any houses that needed a complete renovation of a bath or kitchen. Rather pay for the upgrades through the mortgage than out of pocket. We were looking in the $1.5 million category.

It's likely also that this particular forum has a selection bias for people who would prefer to update on their own terms.

We have toyed with selling but our kitchen is not updated. I think our goal in doing some work for resale would be to have a kitchen a buyer could live with for a couple of years before they have the money, fortitude for a complete redo. Maybe that is lipstick on a pig, but I prefer to think of it as making it easily livable so a prospective buyer doesn't think, "That kitchen has to go immediately."

I'm sure there are some buyers who buy with a look to upgrade to their tastes. However, many don't have the time or interest. We didn't consider any houses that needed a complete renovation of a bath or kitchen. Rather pay for the upgrades through the mortgage than out of pocket. We were looking in the $1.5 million category.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please let the buyer do the updating! I hate nothing more in a house than a hastily updated kitchen or bath with finishes to please a generic buyer that I will want to rip out but can't justify to do so.

This!

Each house we've purchased, we buy for bones.

Our current house was priced at about 100k below thr updated comps and I sunk 130k into the kitchen, baths, flooring, and basement. I love every square inch of my house and got to select really nice finishes.

Nothing worse than ripping out new granite.

I'm not sure OP wants to sell her house for $100k below the updated comps. Although this worked out well for you as buyer, it's probably not the outcome a seller is hoping for.

Some shitty black galaxy granite isn't going to bring a house up that much. Plus the comps 100k over were classy redos. Not lipstick on a pig.

OP, just have a good realtor (emphasis on good) come by and suggest updates. They should be familiar with what is important to buyers at your price point and area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please let the buyer do the updating! I hate nothing more in a house than a hastily updated kitchen or bath with finishes to please a generic buyer that I will want to rip out but can't justify to do so.

+ a zillion

+1 I am in the process of buying a house - - with a granite countertop I can barely look at (the yellow/black/brown/cream dotted stuff). I HATE it. The sellers put it in last year and sell it as an "update". The first thing I will do is take it out.

With that said, I am switching out a bathroom vanity before we put our place on the market because it is a cheap fix and ours is very old, stained and falling apart. OP, unless your stuff is "stained and falling apart" don't do it.

I don't think you are going to fool today's savvy buyers with a half-assed cheap upgrade. First of all, if your cabinets are a dated style like arched doors, and/or low quality, it doesn't really matter that you covered them up with paint and added some new hardware from Home Depot. I think speckled, swirly granite will soon be as dated as floral wallpaper, but more understated stone counters are timeless. But still, don't bother putting it on your old cabinets. I would not pay a premium for that. Also. don't replace functional black or white appliances with stainless just to get stainless. Even low-end appliances come in stainless or stainless-look these days. Similarly, don't put new high end appliances in your otherwise dated kitchen because a new owner will probably gut the space and will not necessarily want to work their new design around your new appliances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do NOT put granite in. This is a huge turnoff to a lot of buyers now. But in a neutral countertop - quartz, soapstone, something with low visual impact.

Floors - I would still do wood-look tile. It's trendy, but it's not going out of style in the next 5 years. I don't think many people would be turned off by it yet. I am personally turned off by any tile kitchen floors - they look cheap and like an afterthought to the rest of the house. So wood look tile is a nice way to bridge these concerns.

If you do countertops, many sure you do an undercounter sink and replace the faucet. Also replace cabinet hardware. And voila, you have a pretty new looking kitchen without spending too much!

Plenty of people still like granite. Soap stone is more of a niche product, it would turn me off as would many quartz counte rtops.

You may like granite, but the reality is that it is considered very early 2000s. If OP is trying to update her kitchen for resale purposes, she shouldn't put something in the kitchen that makes it look dated. That would defeat the point of the update. It would be like a homeowner in 1994 wanting to update their kitchen to make it look good for resale, taking out the 80s white appliances and putting in vintage avocado 1975 appliances. They might be cool looking, but it's not helping your resale.

I am closing on a house today, so I think my opinions are relevant as someone who was recently in the market. You apparently consider yourself an expert on what buyers want, but like me, are just one person. I know people who are unhappy with the durability of their quartz. What matters is the pattern.

But it doesn't matter what one particular person wants. That's called an anecdote. Frankly, the kitchen I described above isn't what I want either. But if you're trying to take a mediocre house and update for resale, you shouldn't put things in that turn off a lot of buyers. You should do neutral updates that are slightly trendy without being "trendy". If you put in granite, you will turn away a large number of buyers. If you put in a neutral quartz countertop, yeah maybe 5% of buyers have some weird personal experience with quartz that turns them off, but most buyers will either see "new quartz! ohhh!" or not notice the countertop at all and just think "the kitchen looks newish, which is good".

And your experience is not anecdotal because? Quartz just isn't that attractive, it's trendy to maybe 10 percent of buyers.