Bathroom Features Buyers Really Want

If a bathroom renovation is on your to-do list this spring, give a quick read of the post "In the Bath, First-Time Buyers Really Want Both a Shower & Tub," from NAHB's Eye on Housing. It shows the bathroom features important to first-time buyers.

The information comes from the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) study, “What Home Buyers Really Want, 2021 Edition.” In it, NAHB asked first-time and repeat home buyers to rate bathroom features on a four-tier scale to measure how much a given feature would influence their purchase decision.
 
The study asked homebuyers to put each feature in one of 4 categories: Essential, Desirable, Indifferent, and Do Not Want. 
 
Essential meant that someone was unlikely to buy a home without the feature and Desirable meant that someone was seriously influenced to buy a home if the feature was included. 
 
Topping the list is a bathroom with both a shower stall and a tub in the primary bathroom, with 72 per cent of first-time buyers rating that feature combination essential or desirable. In second place, 70 per cent of first-time home buyers said having a linen closet in the primary bathroom was essential or desirable. These also ranked as the two most popular bathroom features among repeat buyers, but in reverse order (with 77 percent of repeat buyers rating the linen closet essential or desirable, compared to 72 percent for the shower stall-tub combination).
 



There are a few other simple updates you can make to your bathroom before you sell to attract more buyers, as well. For instance, a neutral ambiance is key, especially in the master bathroom. That is one of the rooms in a house that acts as a retreat for many. A place to lock the door and step away from it all for a moment. Give your master bathroom a spa-like vibe by painting it a neutral colour. White is a great choice as it keeps the space bright. Add a few plants, too, for a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

People typically have more showers than baths so home buyers prefer bigger showers with added features like multiple shower heads, built-in seats, and frameless glass enclosures. Steam showers have also become an extremely hot commodity. A steam shower offers many options like aromatherapy, rain-like overhead shower, foot massage, music, phone connection, overhead LED lights, body jets and steam showers. Bathtubs are still desirable but freestanding soaker tubs are more popular than the built-in tubs with jets.

And finally, replace the faucets, fixtures, and lighting in all your bathrooms with something modern to give them a refreshing look. It’s often the smallest updates that make the biggest difference to potential home buyers.