We are currently planning a home expansion project for next spring and we are trying to decide between two completely different layout designs for a 15x15 footprint addition on the back of our house.
Option A is to build a proper fourth bedroom, which our neighborhood desperately needs since most homes around here only have three bedrooms. Option B is to keep the house at three bedrooms but add a second full bathroom and an expanded laundry room space instead, because right now our entire family is sharing one single bathroom upstairs, which is a massive logistical nightmare every morning.
From a purely financial standpoint, I am trying to figure out which addition gives a better return on investment (ROI) when we eventually decide to sell the property in five to ten years.
I know adding a bedroom technically pushes the house into a higher bracket on real estate listing sites, which is great for attracting buyers. However, a lot of realtors tell me that a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house is significantly easier to sell than a 4-bedroom, 1-bathroom house because nobody wants to share a single toilet with four other people. The plumbing costs for Option B are going to be significantly higher since we have to tie into the main sewer stack, whereas Option A is just standard framing, drywall, and electrical. If you were looking at buying a home, which layout would be a bigger selling point for you?