Our townhouse is in a nice, established area of town. The townhouse community is not high end, but well above average. The population of the community is diverse in terms of age, but closer to middle aged than fresh out of college. The SFHs in the area likely do not have granite counter tops. We assume granite counter tops won’t increase the rent, but our thought is that they may attract a better class of tenant. The counter area is not large, so the cost of granite would be relatively low, but still significant. Granite counter tops seem to send a certain message as well. At the same time, we don’t want to throw our money away, and we are very leery of over doing the rehab. Is granite something we should even consider for this rental? Otherwise, we will likely do tile since I’ll be doing the work myself. Keeping the current counter tops as well as everything else in the kitchen is not an option.
I also deal with nicer townhome rentals. I consider these properties the bottom rung of the “middle-middle” class. The ARV of my properties is in the $175K - $200K area.
I rehab my properties to be very nice and very competitive amenities wise. However, I believe granite in these properties, as rentals, is a waste of money. Most of the people I am renting to are entry level professionals or pink/white collar who have no expectation of granite . Granite is forever and in my limited experience, most renters at this level believe they will be moving on to owning their own homes in a year or so, even if that never happens. Granite, once installed, has little flexibility and may not fit the kitchen if I remodel for a future sale. Granite, in my opinion, will not increase the rent
However, I would install granite if flipping the same property. The extra $1500 will place the property in the top 5% of comparables, attracting more qualified buyers quicker than formica or tile.
jmd_forest
Completely concur with everything jmd_forest had to say. waste of money in a rental, but would consider in retail sale for help with comps and just a general way to set yourself apart in the right neighborhood.
yes, waste of money. Granite chips cracks and is hard to clean hard water stains off.
have to disagree, never seen chipped granite slab or cracks from tenants but it would probably be a waste if you are paying retail. You might get better tenants with it though. Theres a new way of doing it yourself with the prebullnosed slabs from China. Look around for them in big cities, they are only $180.00 for an 8 foot section, bullnosed on 2 sides and you just key cut the seams. It will cost you about $10/s.f.
Three most common edge detail for granite are Bullnose, Ogee and Bevel…
You can get laminate not only with the granite look but the “fissure” detail (the little pocs), and add a matching bevel edge (added advantage - no laminate lines) from Kuehn Bevel or Gem-Loc… most suppliers that carry laminate also have access to the bevel edge or you can have it made for you… If not, you can order direct from both companies if they don’t have a supplier in your area… a 12’ length will run you anywhere from $24 to $45 depending on which company and color you use…
Looks great, and the bevel edge is harder to chip than the slef-edge…
A good-looking more cost-effective alternative…
I wouldn’t use slab granite in a rental, because it chips and stains.
Rule of thumb, I pay for high quality where the tenants can’t touch it-- wiring, roofing, whatever is inside the walls. Anything the tenants can touch gets enough quality to be solid, and no more. If the tenants can reach it, figure on replacing it on a regular basis.
With that being said, if you want to upgrade the kitchen, use granite tiles. They are cheap, and can be replaced one at a time. I’ve seen them for under $1 a square foot.
The problem with nice upgrades is that you really never know what your tenants are going to be like. Screen like crazy, and it will reduce problems, but not eliminate them completely.
Thank you all for your great replies. Based on the neighborhood and since we are doing it ourselves, we decided to go with granite tile. Because the counter space is not very large, the cost over tile is relatively inexpensive. I hope we don’t regret putting hard wood in the kitchen and dining area. We got a great deal on it, but I don’t want to replace it after a few years either.
Save a couple of sticks of the flooring in a safe place so you have a match. You can replace 1-2 boards of flooring if the damage was something like a cigarette burn, or even a pet spot.
If the tenant floods the kitchen, you are probably out of luck.
Hardwood is fairly durable, even more so if i has a commercial finish on it. It cleans up pretty good, as long as the tenant hasn’t warped it.
If it warps with moisture, sometimes it lays back down as it dries out (if you are lucky)
That all depends if you are trying to raise the rent a substantial amount and your ease in ability to do so. If that is a possibility then by all means spruce the place up. But if its a multi and you are only talking about one unit just clean it and rent it. Save the time, save the money. I use 12 inch granite and plywood, works great, and about the same cost as remodeling with a laminate precut. Still costs money though with lost rent and supplies.