Granite Countertops and Home Value

Welcome back guys. I’m Greg Fox, owner of Fox Granite Countertops. I hope you know me by now by all the previous videos that you’ve been watching. Love all the questions you’re sending in.

The next topic for this week’s video blog is Granite Countertops and Home Value. You guys had a lot of questions. I’m going through each one one by one and give you hopefully the answers you’re looking for.

The first question submitted was what are the benefits of selling your home with granite countertops? We do a lot of work with Realtors, and the two benefits that we hear in the industry is fast sale– so reducing the time it takes you to sell your house by having granite countertops– and sell for higher value. I mean at the end of the day that’s what you’re trying to do.

Everybody is looking to move in to a house that’s already finished to some extent. They want that to be a general granite color for what we find to be an neutral color– not too specific– so home buyers will come right in and move right in and start using their beautiful, new kitchen. So giving them something finished is definitely a big plus for selling your home and the value.

The next question was what is the most affordable stone countertop solution for a home seller? This question is very, very clear. A level 1 granite is always the right way to go to sell your home. Level 1s are the least expensive granites, the most popular, and the fastest, sellable product out there.

We get to install them real quickly. We have them all in stock. We can get them installed within a week to two weeks, keep your home back on the market, or don’t lose any time with showings. And these colors appeal to the biggest market, which gives you the best chance to sell your house, and they’re the least expensive.

So every time a Realtor calls us– which is about 6 to 10 times a month– and says,”Hey Greg, I finally convinced my customer to use you to put countertops in their house because their house hasn’t sold for 60– it’s been on the market for 60, 90, 120 days,” they always go with a level 1. And more specifically, they usually go with New Venetian Gold, Santa Cecilia, orNapoleon, which are all on our website for you all to check out in both the portfolio section as well as a granite color section where you can see the whole slabs.

The next question– which is a great question– is what is the best stone countertop solution for a home seller and are backsplashes necessary? My thoughts on anything is when you spend money get your value out of it. If your backsplash is still up to date, keep it.Save the money.

If it’s remotely outdated when you install the new countertops– the level 1 countertops– it’s going to stand out like a sore thumb. So not only are you hurting your potential to sell this house, but you’re also devaluing the money you invested by doing the granite countertops because the granite is making the backsplash look older. And they’re both in the same area.

I say do everything right, or don’t do it all. So if the backsplash isn’t up to date replace the backsplash. Backsplashes usually cost about $850, $900 with the whole thing. It’s insurance to protect the investment of the granite. And completely transform your kitchen when you do a new backsplash with the granite.

It’s a magical kind of combination where you get the best value for your money. So spend the money on the backsplash. It’s worth it.

Another great question was can you remove granite countertops from your home and place them in a new home? So you love your countertops, you got your dream countertops, now you don’t want to part with them. I completely get it.

And unfortunately the answer is no. You can’t remove them or replace them in a different area. Each countertop is cut to a specific size. It probably will not fit in the next house. And then also when removing the countertops, specifically around the sink cut-out area where that big, open, undermount sink is, it’s going to probably break.

85% of the time when we remove them they break because it’s not strong enough.Once you break it every single batch is different, so you can’t just replace one piece and make it work. So unfortunately,countertops are pretty much permanent stay where they are.

The last question is how much value do granite countertops add compared to marble, quartz, and lower-quality countertops? Granite compared to Formica and Corian, there is no comparison. Granite is so much more valuable.Everyone wants it. Selling your house you have to have granite.

Now granite compared to marble and quartz, I believe granite’s more sellable. It appeals to a wider variety of people.Marble is far too soft for a kitchen and too specific of a color. And then quartz–although it’s very popular and I like it too–it still is a niche product.

Only 10% of all the countertops we do is quartz. So even though there’s a lot of buzz about it from the community, I still say for sell ability go with a level 1 granite.Guys, thanks again for joining. I hope we answered your questions. If not, keep on submitting those emails, and we’ll get to it on another blog.