Does bathroom renovation pay off?

The owners said they spent $30,000 on the master bath -- not only to update the house for a sale, but to enjoy the surroundings. (Newsday Photo / Bill Davis / April 23, 2008)

Thomas Tripodi says he'll never forget the Versace designer bathroom in the house he was marketing for $4 million-plus.

"I was waaay over the top," says Tripodi, associate broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Long Beach and owner of The Tripodi Group, which sells luxury homes from Atlantic Beach to Point Lookout. So while that bathroom obviously appealed to the owners, prospective buyers were turned off, Tripodi says. "If you're selling a big house, the bathrooms have to be perfect."

Like kitchens, bathrooms - those essential, private spaces - are rooms buyers scrutinize most closely when shopping for a house, real estate agents say. And in today's buyer's market, sellers need to tread carefully. It's important not to do too much - making something too quirky or personal, like that Versace bathroom, or spending so much they risk pushing their price too high.

Not doing enough can be a danger, too - the gross-out factor can be very high. An older bathroom, especially one that's not clean and sparkling, is "a definite turnoff," says Audrey Williams, a licensed sales associate at Century 21 Laffey's Westbury office. "I've seen quite a few houses where my buyers will walk in, look at the bathroom and then make a U-turn and walk right out."

Williams says that, for a house to sell in this market, having updated bathrooms is "extremely important, because you have so many homes on the market right now."

If you plan to redo a bathroom, you won't necessarily get all your money back - but you'll probably do pretty well, according to the most recent survey by Remodeling Online magazine, done last year in conjunction with the National Association of Realtors. In the Middle Atlantic region, which includes Long Island, a midrange bathroom remodel - costing about $17,000 - would recoup nearly 71 percent upon resale, the survey says. An upscale job - about $54,000 - would recoup less, about 60 percent.

Just spend that remodeling money wisely: Another survey last year by the Realtors' group showed only 36 percent of buyers thought a separate shower enclosure in the master bath was "very important" - and a mere 13 percent thought a whirlpool bath was.

"If you're in a midrange neighborhood, you have to look at what your competition has," says Stephanie Singer, a spokeswoman for the national Realtors' group. "You want to keep your eye on the neighborhood" - adding items such as a bidet or a multifunction showerhead "doesn't necessarily add value" if houses nearby don't have them. She suggests going to open houses in your area to find out, " 'What is my neighbor's bathroom like?' "

Some real estate agents advise against making any major improvements in this market. "Right now, you have to price the house right to get it to sell," says Vivian Rosenthal, licensed salesperson at Coldwell Banker in Commack. "It's not a great time to invest any money in the house."

But, while renovations may not translate into a higher sales price, they could help make the house more appealing, others say. "It could be something that someone could just move right into," says Sandi Lefkowitz, vice president and sales manager of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty in Glen Head / Old Brookville / Sea Cliff.

MILLER PLACE, $529,000

Some houses are priced somewhat higher than others nearby because of renovations; one is the Morabitos' home in Miller Place. The asking price is a range, from $499,000 to $529,000, which hasn't changed since it went on the market in February, says Josephine Lauinger of Coach Realtors in Port Jefferson, co-listing agent with Linda Stowell.

A price can reflect renovations, since buyers will weigh what has to be done in the house. "It has to be in good shape and it has to be priced right," she says.

Stan Morabito, 41, who owns a trucking company, and his wife Jennifer, 40 - who stays home with their children, Max, 5, and Nicholas, 2 - are looking to move to a waterfront home in Miller Place. She says they renovated often in the seven years they've owned the house, including a master bath redo for about $25,000, with a Jacuzzi, a granite vanity, tumbled marble floors and walls; a separate shower with a high-end showerhead - and "a little heater in the vanity that warms up your feet," she says.

When they renovated about two years ago, she says, they did it for themselves. "We wanted the best, so that's what we did," she said. "We bought the best granite, the best marble, the best fixtures. Everything I did in the house I did for me and my family - I didn't do it for anybody else."

GLENWOOD LANDING, $559,000

Daniel Gale's Sandi Lefkowitz's clients Rashel and Matin Emouna, both attorneys, are asking $559,000 for their four-bedroom, two-bath ranch in Glenwood Landing that is completely renovated - including an upstairs bath they spent about $4,000 or $5,000 to update "with New York City flair," Lefkowitz says.

It has double sinks of clear glass that sit atop a double vanity made of dark wood; underneath are portable canvas storage drawers (in a modern green, like the walls); a huge gold-framed mirror running the length of the vanity gives spaciousness to the small room.

"I travel a lot," says Matin Emouna, 39, "and in Europe, they have these small bathrooms that look gigantic, and yet they're cozy. I wanted it to be cozy and not cold."

WESTBURY, $569,000

Kenneth and Daphne Wood of Westbury, both 55, who are selling the home they've been in nearly 22 years, say they renovated for themselves as well as to sell. Kenneth Wood, who retired this winter after a career in hardware and facilities planning, and Daphne Wood, national director of sales for Ikonisys Inc., a health care research firm, are moving to Maryland to be closer to their grown children.

About 21/2 years ago, he says, they spent about $30,000 to create an all-marble master bath with a Jacuzzi and a niche for a dressing table - plus other major renovations, including a new kitchen. "At the time, we wanted to be able to enjoy it, but at the same time we knew we'd be selling the house," he says.

Their real estate agent, Audrey Williams of Century 21 Laffey, says it's important to balance an asking price that's competitive yet still reflects the money homeowners spent on updating. The Woods' house was priced at $605,000 to start and then at $599,999 in an area where most houses without these renovations are priced in the low $500,000s, Williams says. Last week, they lowered it to $569,000. "The owners are motivated and they didn't want to miss the people looking, so they said, let's lower it now," she says.

LIDO BEACH, $1.299 MILLION

Having a high-end master bath "is extra-important when you're asking $1 million or more," says Prudential's Thomas Tripodi, the agent for Denise Bradley, an architect selling her A-frame Colonial in the Lido Dunes area of Lido Beach for $1.299 million. Bradley, of Denise Bradley Architect in Long Beach and Rockville Centre, gutted the master bath - both for her own enjoyment, she says, and to prepare the house for sale. Bradley created a serene and practical room with fantasy elements recalling the ocean (just down the block).

The bathroom combines soft neutrals and traditional elements with different textures and contemporary touches. Sand-colored, tumbled marble on the walls has a contrasting trim of smooth, shiny glass tiles in a kind of seaglass green. Bradley also used that color for the free-standing Jacuzzi tub's faucets and trim. "It's kind of like the ocean and the sand," she says.

Even with savings from designing the bath herself, plus professional discounts, Bradley estimates she spent nearly $50,000 on the bathroom renovation alone - as well as thousands more on other rooms.

The bath also includes a skylight and separate shower surrounded by clear glass, with an entry from the master bedroom via frosted glass doors. But what draws the eye most are the two large octagonal windows - made, Bradley says, to look like portholes on a ship. "That's absolutely the effect," she says. "With this architectural element, I was trying to speak to the beach a little bit."

Like Bradley, some homeowners - while keeping in mind the possibility of resale - remodel largely for themselves, "to increase their use and enjoyment of the house," says Stephanie Singer, a national Realtors' group spokeswoman.

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