As long as the house has one bathroom with a tub, swapping out the tub/combo in the other bathroom for a shower only should be fine for resale. Assuming you keep the current bathroom access for the other two upstairs bedrooms, adding direct access to the master bedroom is going to eat up a lot of wall space and create "door wars".

Make the downstairs the master and get away from the kid ruckus. A downstairs master is a better selling point for sure.

How about for the purpose of selling the house? Upstairs bathroom needs some work, but how much do we put into it.

If the downstairs becomes the master, then guests will have to use that or go upstairs. Unless there’s a half-bath.

no half bath down stairs

if the downstairs only has one bathroom don't make it the master. Buyers hate master suites which have to be the main level bath. If you are going to have a first floor master, put in a 1/2 bath and make it 2.5 BA

I know someone with a bathroom that is accessible from the MBR and also the other two upstairs bedrooms. I don't think it is any better than the regular shared bath--it only creates the potential for someone to accidentally walk in on someone else. That's the problem with older homes--no MBR and young folks today are not crazy about that.

Whoever thought having a toilet close to a bed was nuts. IMHO, the more separation and privacy, the better.

I think its better to have a tub on the second floor if there are multiple bedrooms. Most families need/ want tubs to bath the kiddos. Having a door might be nice but since you are still sharing the bath it doesn't really make it a master and you lose the wall space in the master

Keep the bathrooms as is and renovated as needed.

A master being desirable on the main floor is entirely regional. No one where I live wants it and it is in fact a deterrent to buyers.

Masters on the upper level are desirable for young people with young families. The older the people get, the more they think about aging in place and want to avoid stairs, though. And no one wants an upper level master here at all! Split single level living, with master one one side, and kids on the other is extreme desirable. So analyze your neighborhood demographics.

Also, what exactly does the upstairs bath need done to it? Can you post pictures?

I think this is really a question of what works for you because unless you are planning to sell immediately, what a future potential buyer may or may not want doesn't matter.

What would you gain by having direct access to the bathroom from the master? Is it so terrible to have to step into the hallway. Either way you are going to be sharing the bathroom with the kids. As others have pointed out, two doors just means there are potential issues in terms of remembering to lock and unlock both doors - are your kids going to be locking the door to the master bedroom?

Chances are that you are in an older neighborhood where there are no master bathrooms en suite anyway.

As others have posted, the most ideal solution would be to carve out a powder room - however tiny on the first floor and use the bedroom on the first floor as the master.

we are considering selling

I appreciate your opinions, I failed to mention that we are considering selling our home and need to do some work in our bathroom. If you could base your opinion on that fact it would be a great help. thank you

Not a realtor. As a buyer would prefer full en suite even if small. But just separate door to shared bath seems not so great. Prefer hall bath to jack n jill personally. Would want a tub near kids bedrooms This is just my individual preference. You could talk to some local realtors who would have better insight

Rick,

I've been following but haven't commented til now. The fact that you say you are considering selling really changes the decision-making process.

I would recommend that you consult with a local Realtor who has lots and lots of years in your area, not a newbie. Ask them to do an eye-ball appraisal of your home and for recommendations of whether you should sell as is, do a huge remodel, or strike somewhere in-between.

I'll post my Dad's story next.

So, about 18 months ago, my Dad, age 81, decided it was time to sell his large, beautiful, well laid-out, and well-maintained, but dated 1990s interiors/surfaces, family house and down-size into a condo. His house was also located in a very desirable family-friendly neighborhood just outside a huge, major city with great schools, so he figured a 30-something family would be his target market. My little sister's friend had just become a "Realtor" and my sister recommended to my Dad that she come over to assess the situation and offer recommendations on any updates he should do to sell quickly and for the most money.

I met them at the house. By the time we walked the entire house this "Realtor" had spent 200,000-$250,000 of my Dad's money, in her mind, to make HER job easier, because she knew that selling to millenials is easier if everthing is totally done, pretty, and modern, so the millineals don't have to lift a finger. She told my Dad to totally remodel the kitchen soup-to-nuts, totally remodel the master bathroom soup-to-nuts, all 4 upstairs bathrooms soup-to-nuts, all flooring, all doorknobs, all faucets, tubs, all sinks, and fixtures, all countertops, all lighting, etc, etc, etc.

After the consultation from the "Realtor" I met with my Dad and recommended that he:

- de-clutter, pass-down, sell, donate, clean

- buy his new place

- move everything to his new place that he's keeping

- hire people to fix anything that's broken, and then hire painters to repaint the inside of the house the exact same color as it was, which was a light neutral.

He spent about $8,000 moving, fixing, painting, landscape spruce-up, and re-staining the deck.

He listed the house and it sold in 4 hours at a little over list price. It turns out there was a millineal family with little kids living on his street that knew/hoped that their career Navy parents might someday retire from DC and live near them and their kids. When they saw his house was on they market, they told their parents and the parents bought the house site-unseeen. They probably appreciate that it was well-maintained, broken stuff was fixed, and the paint re-freshed inside. I don't think it's a good idea to try to remodel for milleneals unless you are a flipper.

My Dad is a generous and wonderful human being, so he did let the naive "Realtor" make the sale to help her career. He's that kind of person, always helping people out. But her advice was not good.

I have no idea without seeing an actual to scale floor plan of the upstairs . So post that and you might get lucky with some ideas .How old is the house for starters. I also think getting some idea of what is looked for in your area.

Would you like to gift money to the new owners or keep it in your pocket toward your next home?

Almost all renovations cost far more than they return on sale.

What you need to do to sell is make sure that everything works and looks clean and well maintained. I had my master bedroom sink and vanity sprayed with a coating to hide the stains in the sink. It will only last a year or two before it starts chipping and wearing away, but buyers couldn't see it was just a coating and it looked perfect when we sold.

The price you get for your home is based on the neighborhood, square footage, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms and general condition of the home.

Buyers want to buy the best house for the $$$.

Start going to every open house, visit every home that was recently sold or is for sale near your home/in your school district.

Do your homework. Get a really good feel for what you can get for the money. What properties sold quickly, which ones sat on the market and had 5 price reductions before finally selling at below market value.

Look at what realtors sold homes at the original list price or very close to it. That is the realtor you want - not the one who blows smoke up your butt telling you what they can get for your house.

Realtors will tell you to do all kinds of updates - they all cost you money, not the realtor, not the new owner. The realtor's commission goes up because the price goes up, but you spent more than the price went up.

Realtors use your listing to make their phones ring. If you don't have listings buyers don't call and you need buyers.

If you list your home for more than it will sell for the house will sit on the market. The longer it sits the more the price goes down. It doesn't take long before people assume there is something wrong with the house that it isn't selling and start giving low ball offers. You never make more money by over pricing your home and you often get less.

I sold my home by using an MLS listing service - $300 and they list your house on the MLS. You write your own description, take your own pictures and show the house yourself. I offered the full 3% commission to the buyers agent. Sold in 3 days, saved thousands of dollars by not using a listing agent. The service I used offered additional services - would do a comparative market analysis, provided all the paperwork needed and offered over the phone assistance with offers. I had sold real estate in the past and had worked for a real estate attorney, so I didn't use their assistance with evaluating the offer.

You want to post some pics there chief? There’s a difference in worn out or damaged things that are just not keeping up with home maintenance and a “renovation for updating”.

Keeping the bathtub upstair should be right enough for families to enjoy that. Downstair bathrooms look better convenient with a shower system. Installing a door means you'll have no bathtub in the house, I don't find it a good thing to do. Better contact a local realtor for these issues, they usually have the most practical answers to such situations.

I get what you're saying--we have to replace loose tile bathroom floor and this sort of thing always leads to "while we're at it...." thinking. And, certainly, it always depends on if you plan to stay (do what makes you happy) vs. planning to sell (do what will help sell the house). So, I hear you --and no, I don't think that the door from the MBR would be an added selling feature. The good news is that a renovated bathroom will certainly help sell the house.

I've been a realtor for over 20+ years. I work two counties and people are correct- it depends on your marketplace. In the town I live in people expect pristine or an amazing deal and they hire a contractor to do everything. In the town I grew up in (mostly trades people, out in the country) and still serve- people shop price point and would rather "make it their own."

When I work with clients in your position, I always show them the current recommended price and the turn key price. Having flipped houses- I'm pretty good at ball parking repairs but you could get some estimates. Even If you choose not to make the change at least you know the cost and can use that during negotiations if it comes up. Sometimes It's just not worth doing more than a good scrubbing and paint. Sometimes, you really can get more if you do a little remodel (adding rooms, square footage, finished space). An experienced agent knows the difference.

I like Newgardenef's advice. Please do not do any short-term fixes that will fool buyers into thinking they are buying something in good condition, only to have it peel off in a year. That has the aura of fraudulently hiding problems rather than fixing them.

I know what you mean, this is nothing to hide anything but to design the bathroom so you could have access from the master bedroom which seems to of importance in the local market, but do I spend the money to do that knowing I’m not going to get back all the money I put into it. The bathroom could use some work but changing the design would cost much more. Thanks for your input.