Should I sacrifice a dining room for a bigger kitchen?

Question

OK, so I have a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom house that needs a rehab, then I'm going to rent it out, hopefully. The current kitchen is a small, dark space, and needs to be torn down to the studs to be rebuilt. I also think it was used as a laundry room. The dining room in the next room is huge, bright, and doesn't need anything but a fresh coat of paint and the floor refinished. The 1/2 bath on the 1st floor is next to the kitchen, but under the stairs. Weird tight space. I had an idea. If I made the current dining room the kitchen, I could put a full bath and a separate utility room where the old kitchen was, and turn the space under the stairs into a storage space. Problem is, this removes the dining room altogether. The dining room is big enough to make an eat-in kitchen, but still no dining room. There is also a sun room right next to the dining room, which will probably fit a small dining table. What do you guys/girls think? Does a house need a dining room? Also, if there are no bedrooms on the 1st floor, does a house need a full bath on that floor? Leave cost out of the discussion, please. I just wanted to see what people thought.

Seth Borman · Answer

In general it is much, much easier to keep everything where it is. And by easier I mean cheaper. And rents won't go up enough to justify a lot of messing around.

Mark Reed · Answer

Thank you everyone for replying! Good stuff! I guess I didn't think about the rental value of the home going up, only the resale value. I think I'm going to keep the kitchen where it is and build it out. Everything else can remain the same, with a few upgrades here and there. Thank you again for the replies! It helped the thought process!

@Sarah Brown, bought it for $62k, and I believe the ARV to be somewhere between $100-120k.

Mark Reed · Answer

Wow, I had no idea I would get this many replies! So, piggybacking off another idea from @James Hamling to save money is forego the dining room, make the big eat-in kitchen, and keep the current kitchen as a large mudroom, which could also be doubled as a utility room. All the hook-ups are already there for laundry, so that won't be too bad.

@Amanda McAvena and @Lukas Vanagaitis I will take a look at the other comps/properties in the area and how they look. That's a good idea.

If I were flipping the property, I think building the bigger kitchen would be the way to go, but you all have given me a lot to think about. Thank you again! I'll keep checking back!

JD Martin · Answer

Renters look for flexibility. A dining room can be a dining room, a play room, an office, a video game room, a workout room (yes, I've seen some of my tenants do that), or just a place for a ton of crap to land. I would possibly trade a dining room for a bedroom, if there were some other eating option besides the coffee table, but I wouldn't trade it for a bigger kitchen in a rental. In a flip, you can do whatever will get you best sales.

Whenever I visit my properties, most of the time I find the renters using the dining room as a bonus room, with a small table in the kitchen or sometimes no table at all. I once saw a tenant set up a dining room as a combo office/guest room with a foldaway couch.

Michael King · Answer

I'd make it an eat in kitchen, especially since you've got to go to the studs on the present kitchen. It may cost you more in time and money, and it may not increase the rents by enough to justify it, but you'll increase the desire for someone to have that home. Desire = motivation to live there = money in your pocket and probably a longer term tenant.

James Hamling · Answer

@Mark Reed Kitchens & bathrooms, that is the priority and $$$$ factor in most markets, has been for a long time and I see no change to this on the horizon.

That said, Open Concept is "the" current "how-to" measure in design.

When I come into a property that has the old layout of formal dining and kitchen with separation walls I immediately am searching out to see if the structure will facilitate a redesign to an open concept. And it a lot of ways it is "space-hacking" because with an open concept the rule of thumb is kitchen flowing into island flowing into dining area, and it's way less square footage than what would be needed for the spaces separately, the open concept makes the area seem so much bigger.

For bathrooms, if I don't have a sleeping room on the floor than I never waste $$$$ on a full bath, always go with a 1/2 bath. Even if I have a larger room, I will use the space for a storage built-in or some other feature that will have buyer perceptual value over a dismembered bath/shower.

The 1 kind of exception to that rule is for formal mud rooms, I don't ever strive for this but if it easily suites a pet wash station I will do that which is a kinda shower I guess.

Definitely go open concept if possible, formal dining doesn't matter until into higher end properties and when into those you will have plenty of square footage to play with so safe to assume your not there.

Amanda McAvena · Answer

Hi Mark, it's a good question and I think really depends on your market. I would take a look at the comps to see what sold, and rented, for the highest price and what those layouts looked like.

If it's still possible to see properties right now in your market I would also connect with a Real Estate agent and go see premium developments and the best properties on the market to get inspiration from those layouts. Even if you don't decide on the full renovation at this time, it could at least provide a plan and blueprint for your long term vision.

Lukas Vanagaitis · Answer

OK, so my answer is this. You do what gets you highest ROI. How do the comps look like? Maybe it's worth more converting 1/2 bath to full bath and having higher ARV? If your sold comps all have smaller kitchens and dining rooms, maybe there is no need to spend more money on bigger kitchen - meaning more cabinets, more granite, more money, but your sales price still the same.

Sarah Brown · Answer

How much did you buy the property for and what is the ARV?  While it make increase the salability of the house, it won't necessarily increase the value.  Moving walls, plumbing, and cabinets can get pricey.

Kimberley Lee · Answer

Your idea is very good, I like big kitchens! But it would really be easier to leave everything as it is now. Also to answer your question about the bathroom... I like when there is also a bathroom downstairs, even if there are no bedrooms.

But 1,5 bathrooms for a 3 bedroom is okay.

Should I sacrifice a dining room for a bigger kitchen?

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