Potential buyer of flip house wants granite

[Jennifer Petrillo]

Deep into Flip #4, potential buyer walked by this weekend and came inside, loves the house, called us today to say she wants it but...she wants granite countertops. Currently the countertops are off because we had to move out the cabinets to repair a very water-damaged kitchen floor. I was going to replace them with laminate because it is not a high end house--small 3/1.5 Colonial built in 1830, limited closet space, nonworking fireplace, etc. Just not the kind of house that calls for high end finishes. In fact, I thought stone countertops would look out of place because the rest of the house is very modest (simple but charming in an 1830 kind of way!). What have other rehabbers done in this situation? She is ready to make an offer but we don't want to be on the hook for granite countertops that we were not planning on buying in the first place in case she backs out. Do we have her buy them? Reimburse us at closing? Any thoughts? Thanks BP!

[Brian Pulaski]

As someone who made improvements based on a buyer who wanted them before I was done, I can say this. My buyer backed out days before the closing and then taught tooth and nail to get their EMD back. I agreed to a few items for them (added insulation in a wall, added a drop ceiling in a mechanical space, and the biggest was making a half bath into a full bath). I was strategic in doing the bath upgrade making sure I could recoup my money whether they bought or not.

Personally I have always done granite, even in my $150k houses. I have a cheap one going now that will get granite. Just be smart about giving in to a buyers desire.