We’re going to be putting our rental on the market within the next year. It’s a 2br 1 bath in a decent neighborhood where comparables go for around 400-450k. (High COL area in Pacific Northwest). One level plus an attic with headroom giving about 40’ x 15 headroom. When my husband purchased 30+ years ago there was a jerry rigged staircase for the sellers to use the attic as a bedroom. My husband took out the staircase as he didn’t need the room and it wasn’t code. He closed the ceiling. A few years ago we redid the original electrical, plumbing and furnace systems and toyed with the idea of turning the attic into a legal space. Never have but ran all systems into the attic though they’re all capped off.
We had our agent view the house to get a heads up on anything we could address over the next year in preparation to sell. He said that an in-code stairway to attic could be an advantageous selling point even just listed as access, not saying it’s part of living space. He feels that buyers would be drawn to the potential for another bedroom especially in our price range. It would cost around 5-7k to put in a stair.
Is this a good idea?
Seeking opinions on whether stair to attic would benefit sale
byu/Pistalrose inRealEstate
Posted by Pistalrose
4 Comments
My first thought would be to mention to potential sellers that everything has been ron through thecattic and capped off, so they know that it is an option they might consider if they chose to. I person would not do it.
I’d put the stairs in! I think a lot of people would be interested in easily accessible extra space, but wouldn’t want to go through the hassle of doing it themselves.
Either actually finish the attic and claim the footage properly or leave it alone.
We were this sort of buyer and looked at lots of this sort of house. I would say having the attic stairs there would be the difference for me between considering it useful space and assuming there is some fatal flaw preventing the stairs from going in. For $5-7k I think I would do it.
What are 3b1 ba selling for in the area? I bet it’s more than $50k extra.