Of course everything depends upon your market. I wouldn’t spend a lot of $ in any case. If you plan to sell within a year or two just do a cosmetic redo if it’s necessary. Things like paint, light fixtures, etc. I wouldn’t invest $ into a stand alone tub, many people, including myself, dislike them. A large walk-in shower is a big selling point IMO, but again, just price your house right & let the new owners decide what THEY like. In my neighborhood every house is remodeled after a sale regardless of it’s condition.

I would ask yourself, would the master bath prevent someone from buying the house? If the answer is no, no remodel.

Make sure everything functions and is clean.

Renovating to sell is very rarely a smart choice. Post some pictures and we might be able to give you easier updates.

Thanks all for the advice. Just to give more detail I am doing much of the work myself but to do a walk in shower I think it would require some pro work too. We can definitely go cheaper and make it look nicer. New vanity, fixtures etc... and yes we are in a hot market.

So, what I’m hearing some of you say is there’s no money to be made in remodeling, even if I’m doing the work myself, or are you saying don’t over spend on projects like this?

as long as your bathroom isnt grotty, you can let it ride. hot markets are like that. (will the market be hot in 2 years?)

another question is, might you stay there longer? then you should upgrade to please yourself, as i'd hate to mentally lock you in to not improving that which would make you happy.

I remodeled my master bath several years ago. The materials were $18,000. You are never going to get a payback for all your time / effort / money invested.

two years from now, the market may tank. no way to tell. have you spoken to an agent to see what the difference in price would be?

we also did a very extensive master bath/bedroom remodel. we saved about 40K by doing most of the construction and contracting ourselves. But I still dumped 35K. will it make a diff? No. houses here are snapped up in a week. but this new room will no doubt cause a bidding war. and because there is nothing else like this on the market, I can jack up the price a bit. to me it was worth it because I still have to live here for the time being.

So, if you can get by and save yourself 20K, then go ahead. things change and you may end up staying longer.

as for the tub, freestanding is better. clawfoot is fine if you're replicating a 1920 period type of home. if doing more modern, go for a longer type of soaking tub.

So I’m a little confused by some of the responses to my question. Many of you are saying don’t renovate to make money in a sale. I’m not talking about spending $50,000 on a master bath. Not even close. More like less than $5000. That’s what I’m trying figure out..

If the bath is way outdated and needs at min a new vanity and fixtures, some of you guys are saying that won’t affect the appraisal and sale value?

5K is new paint, a new light, a new vent, maybe a vanity top, but not vanity, and towels. That’s a minor refresh. Not a remodel.

Anything involving tile, tubs, cabinets, or demolition of any variety will be in the 40-60K range for a master.

Many of you are saying don’t renovate to make money in a sale.

Correct. Say the home value is X. Spending $5,000 isn't going to increase the value to X + 5,000. It will still be valued at X You will be out $5,000.

New paint, freshen up - it might make it sell a little faster.

exactly what geoffrey said. I thought you had 30K you wanted to spend. You mentioned taking out the tub and replacing it w/freestanding. you want to do that and the vanities for under 5K? with what? Home Depot stuff? if you take out your tub, what about the flooring that will now be exposed? do you have any extra tile?

the big outdated items are the costliest. (tub, tile, shower, floor) Is it a double vanity or two singles? the vanity you can do. you can find some for 800, 1200, or 1800. just depends what you want. some of them hav countertops and sinks, so you'd need to install new faucets. Lighting and mirrors would round it out. Do it if you want to have something for yourselves for the next two years. But don't do it merely to get a higher home price.

I'm not a big believer in updating to the latest trends, even in a home I'm going to be in for a long time. Home fashion comes and goes. Forty years or so ago, popcorn ceilings were in all the new homes, and other homeowners were all hot to get their ceilings done the same way. Now the folks who bought those houses can't wait to get that stuff removed and put the ceilings back to the way they were originally. (Or, sometimes, rip the ceilings out entirely so they can lie on the couch and look up into the attic, instead of storing stuff there. But that's another matter.)

As far as I'm concerned, the only people who really benefit from house updating are the decorating consultants and the contractors. Not that I have anything against them making their living that way!

What I care about in house buying are location, square footage, lot size, and construction quality. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

Condition matters too, but not as much, unless it indicates serious neglect. In situations like that, IMO you want to do basic carpentry and painting, maybe replace worn flooring and carpeting with something timeless and -- please pardon the term -- inoffensive.

Big investments in the latest bath and kitchen gewgaws from the latest glossy magazines wouldn't affect my buying decision. But that's me. YMMV.

How about post some pictures of what you have?