Granite countertops in your rentals: yea or nay?

Question

Just curious what everyone's take is.

Is it worth it to spend a little bit more to have granite countertops installed in the kitchens of your rental houses? Will it help you secure a tenant faster? Can you charge a premium rent if the comps. don't have it? Is it more durable over the long-run than the alternatives?

What about the bathrooms?

Would love to hear your opinions on the above questions; feel free to add more to the discussion.

- Lyall

Will Barnard · Answer

Of course everything is area specific and market specific. Low end rentals, mid range rentals, high end rentals all factor in as do local competition of other rental units.

My take is that granite is so cheap now that the small added cost is gained by the lifespan over other less quality options. I would also suspect that you could get a tad more for your unit with granite than the competition that lacks it.

Cody L. · Answer

On higher end, I'll put in granite slab tops.  I find the increase in rent (and lowered downtime) provides a good RIO and any increase in rent adds about 100x that amount to the building value (rule of thumb).  So if I can get another $25/month, that's $2,500 in value added.  And if it's $1000 to put them in, that's a 30% return.
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On cheaper property I put in granite TILES.  That can be done cheap (~$5/SF) and allow you to advertise "Granite countertops!" and get most of the same advantages (on sale and lease)

Rob Young · Answer

I use a product called Granicrete in my rentals (and flips). It is a concrete overlay that looks like real stone. It is very durable. You can take a hammer to it and barely scratch it. And if it does scratch, I can buff it out. Unlike real stone, it does not require maintenance. As a landlord, I don't have to worry about someone trashing/chipping/breaking the countertop.

All my tenants have loved it. It gives a high-end look and feel for even modest properties. The price is a little more than laminate and less than real stone.

Go to granicrete.com and see if there are any installers in your area.

Tiffany Buoni · Answer

I'm rehabbing a SFH right now that will be the first rental I've put granite in, but it will be higher rent than my others ($1650) so it will be expected. Lowest price I've gotten so far is $40/sf installed but I'm still shopping around - would like to get closer to $30.

Ray Orellano · Answer

I would definitely recommend granite. My company does a lot of rentals as well as sales, & HIGH on everyone's wishlist is Granite/SS Appliances.  It will pay for itself in no time!

James Vermillion · Answer

We have a middle of the road rental and decided to leave the laminate counter-tops and focus our budget on some other areas that needed more attention since they were not in bad shape.  However, when we do decide to change them out we will probably go ahead and upgrade to granite (perhaps we will go the tile route).

Pat L. · Answer

I am doing a rehab on a SFH I own up here. 
The kitchen counter & island has granite ($43/sq ft) installed.
I get $1400/mo, rent.
The original formica was badly cut & had burns from previous years.

I inherited Corian in another SFH I bought but it hadn't worn well. The edges near the stove were buckled from heat & it also had a lot of cuts from years of using it as a cutting board.

Then I bought a lower grade of 3/4 inch Chinese granite for yet another rehab. However, the surface finish scratched badly after a year & began to crack at the stress points around the sink.

If you go with granite don't get any fancy edges as it will chip along the sharper edge profiles.

good luck

Ben Leybovich · Answer

If your rental is in the bottom 75 percentile in terms of monthly rents in your city, then Formica will do just fine.  If you are in the high-end market, sure.  Thus, if a 2-broom in your city goes for $475 - $1,100, then unless you are at $800 or above I wouldn’t even consider it, unless you have such strong buying power from the distributor that granite is almost as cheap as Formica.

Mark H. · Answer

I don't think you can say that granite is "more durable" than formica..  I could show you a thousand  homes built in the 70's and 80's still sportin' the plastic in my area..  it's out-of-date, but often put in the dumpster after 30+ years with nary a scratch..

I think it might be more "classic" and timeless, and certainly well-received by buyers and tenants alike..

In the last rehab i did, professionally installed formica was $550, and granite would have been about $1200..  I picked the formica, but I think in that price range either material would work just fine..

Kay Carbone · Answer

We have laminate in our rental homes and they are higher end.  We are getting $1850 for the one home in Avon, Ohio and $1350 in Avon Lake, Ohio.  Both of these communities are very nice.  We have a low turnover.  I feel its all about the overall tastefulness of the entire rental.  I did consider Granite in my most recent remodel but for 160 linear feet of countertop.  The high-end HD (quite tasteful) laminate is costing me $1000. The granite roughly would have been $3500.  My concern is that granite can stain and scratch if a tenant does not care for it well.  It is not invincible.  Although laminate is not either, it is, in fact, durable.... If need be, the laminate is much cheaper to replace if and when it is necessary.

We just put new kitchens and baths in our one rental.  The white cabinets with the Wilsonart "Spring Carnival" or "Autumn Carnival" along with Stainless Steel Appliances... is lovely.  They have fancier edges available now as well.  It gives you the look overall without spending the extra and taking the risk.

Granite countertops in your rentals: yea or nay?

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