Bath tub necessary in apartment with one bathroom?

I used to advise people the same thing, but over time I think it has become less of an issue.

PS if you are doing a gut renovation I strongly suggest multiple shower heads.

Market standard is still bathtub if you only have one bathroom. I say it despite the fact that I have never used my bathtub in my master bathroom.

Most people with kids would want a bathtub. A one-bedroom is perhaps not what a family would be seeking but I do still think you'd do better resale-wise with a standard tub/shower combo rather than a stall shower only.

Agreed with Squid. A tub is important for one bedroom. Would not replace with a shower if it were me.

Does anyone actually have an example of a 1 BR/1 bath with a shower which traded for less than comps?

30, That would be very hard to find as no two apartment even in the same building are the same due to different interior Reno. Also, the sale price will not factor in how long it took to sell an apartment. Only brokers will know via their experience from actually selling.

My thoughts are nobody dislikes having a full bathroom with a tub. However there will be a portion of the buyer pool that no tub will be a non-starter (Count Me In the latter). So unless you have a personal biased towards wanting a very large and luxurious shower only, I'd keep the tub.

Keith Burkhardt
TBG

"replacing the bath tub with a huge shower with a built in bench"

Unless you're substantially expanding the footprint beyond the existing space taken up by the tub, your net floor space won't be much bigger, though it will appear so (no tub ledges, but the bench takes up a near equivalent space). And losing the tub means you lose the option for extended soaks, romantic bubble baths, etc. I have a Kohler soaking tub (standard 6' size) with 3 very steep sides, because I wanted to maximize usable floor space, but wasn't ready to lose the tub, and couldn't expand the footprint. Maybe consider a custom construction that looks like a shower stall, but could be used as a tub?

I will install a tub.

I just came back from visiting relatives in Sweden. Their bathrooms all come with showers regardless of how many bathrooms they have. They feel it conserves water. For a child, they use the typcial baby tubs, but larger.

I have a fairly deep hatred for acrylic tubs.

I just redid my bathroom and as much as I wanted a second shower stall, I decided the better option was to add a washer-dryer closet and a la Aaron2, I replaced my tub with a soaking tub plus a shower system and a small bench.

I hate the look of a bathroom where you can clearly see that the old tub was removed and an oblong shower put in the same space. Too tacky for me.

There are clearly buyers out there who will insist on a bathtub but I doubt many buyers would insist on a shower-only. As others have said, not sure you gain anything financially from converting a tub to a shower stall using the same floor plate. If the space you save makes enough room for e.g. a washer-dryer closet, than maybe it makes sense.

I have a 1 bedroom in a nice coop. I was lucky to have the money, so totally gutted my tiny, ancient deco bathroom (with the peach tiles!) and did a total high end walk in shower. I discussed with several real estate brokers and looked at how others in my building did when they sold their shower only apartments and they told me that many many people no longer care about tubs and prefer walk in showers. Yes, perhaps your pool of buyers does become smaller, but if your building is the kind that draws singles or couples and not someone with a kid, I'd say go for it. More and more people in one bedrooms in my bldg are renovating to shower only.

Yes, I think it's a nice idea.

I faced the same dilemma back when I lived in a one bathroom. I ultimately felt it was worth more in terms of well-being and quality of life to remove the bathtub and have a shower installed in its place. In the end, the convenience of having a shower far outweighed the possibility of a slightly lower resale value down the road. I picked out high end finishes that would not "date" the renovation at the time.

Not much of this matters if you plan to stay in your apartment for a long period of time - the next buyer will probably gut everything.

Honestly, yes. For re-sale value. Plus it's just wierd otherwise.

Yes, I feel so.