Buying a House? The Value of Granite

If you’re in the market for a new home, you’ve probably got a checklist of what you’re looking for, hoping for, and absolutely can’t live without. Here at Granite and Marble Specialties, we know a lot about the value of granite countertops or fixtures in a home, and we’d like to urge you to add granite to that list!

The number one thing you should look for in the kitchen of a prospective house is its countertops. Granite costs thousands of dollars to install, but luckily it’s been very popular for the last decade, and many homeowners have already shouldered the cost of that improvement for you. A good granite countertop will last a lifetime, save you many future repairs, and provide an instant value boost to your home’s real estate value. If you see a home with a stunning granite countertop, consider it a major bonus.

After all, the kitchen is the place of gathering in the family, the room in which everyone spends the most time together, and where they are drawn over and over again throughout the day and night. Whoever is responsible for the cooking in the household is probably especially interested in securing a high-quality kitchen, and granite countertops are as impressive and beautiful as they are practical.

However, be wary of slap-dash granite installation. Partly because of the myriad home improvement shows, granite has become famous for its durability, beauty, and its ability to draw in buyers—almost too famous. As a result, many homeowners will install granite for a quick cosmetic kitchen make-over to increase the sale price of their home. It’s likely that the granite they’ve installed wasn’t done properly or professionally, or the granite itself is sub-par and either porous, thin, or vulnerable to cracks.

And most importantly, don’t be suckered in by granite that’s just plain ugly. Even if you know granite is a valuable feature to find in a prospective new home, if you hate the color or pattern, it’s not “worth” anything, and you’ll probably wind up replacing it as soon as you can. A lot of the granite homeowners might slap on their counters to accelerate a sale doesn’t possess the radiant natural beauty of the granite you’d find in a professional’s showroom.

If you’ve purchased a home with granite you love, congratulations! You’ve made a great choice and gotten very lucky! If your new home doesn’t have granite countertops, though, or it has ones you can’t stand, call us at Granite and Marble Specialties to talk about fitting your kitchen with stone you love!