Granite or Formica for kitchens in rental unit?

Question

I'm a new investor and working on rehabbing 1 bedroom apartments in a 12 unit building. For the kitchens I'm able to salvage the cabinets thank goodness but not sure about upgrading to granite vs going with Formica. I would say these are B units in a B- or C+ area. I have 5 vacant units that I'm readying for rent. I'm going with vinyl flooring and ceramic tile which is coming out great but not sure if I should make the investment on granite for the kitchens. Any advice? Will it hold up well in a rental? My hope is this is a one time expense for at least a few years. What say you experts?

Michael Hayworth · Answer

Granite is a nice upgrade that should pull a little extra rent per unit without too much extra cost. It also allows you to use undermount sinks, which are also a nice touch. (Technically, you can also do that with laminate, but it's expensive and a pain in the ass.)

You'll have 8-10 choices in Tier 1 granite. Names may vary by area and fabricator,  but they'll be things like Ubatuba, Santa Cecilia, Giallo Ornamental, White G and a handful of others. You should be able to buy that for $30-35/sq ft, plus cost of sink cutout ($150ish) and a good undermount sink ($150-200).

Laminate is going to be $15-20/sf, usually. It's likely that you don't have that much counter space in a 1BR unit. If you have 20 sq. ft of counter space, you might be looking at $300-400 extra per unit to do granite. That's pretty inexpensive to add a nice upgrade that should translate into increased rents and a higher value when you sell the units, based on the cap rate for your area.

You're in a blue state, so everything's going to be more expensive there, so the rates I quoted above may be a little light, but the cost differences between granite and laminate should still be roughly accurate.

Good luck.

Charles Moore · Answer

to add onto what @James DeRoest said, in addition to ongoing sealing you have to do to maintain it (which you probably don't want to entrust a tenant with), granite is porous (like wood or skin), so if a tenant spills wine, or oil, or grease, or meat sauce, or fish guts, or chicken innards, or other liquids that can stain, those liquids seep into the pores and may not come out if not properly attended to, leading to discoloration.

For B class tenants, the ROI is not with it. Stick with non-porous Formica.

If you definetly want higher grade material for appraisal purposes, choose Quartz - it's non-porous and does not need repeated sealing.

James DeRoest · Answer

Formica. They are cheap enough to be disposable after a tenant wrecks one. Takes 2-3 hours to fit a new one.

Everyone forgets that granite needs to be sealed every so often if you want to maintain it, and if you don't, it actually doesn't perform as long as you think.

David Stefanovic · Answer

Sometimes you may be find a retailer that has an over supply of a specific granite (not as popular), that you can buy much cheaper at bulk price. It may then pay off for you as you should be able to command a higher rent. I would first look in your area and see what rents are going for that have upgrades such as granite.

I once bough quartz countertops for two of my units and got a deep discount on it as the retailer had an oversupply of it. It turned out great in the kitchens and has always been a big selling point to prospective tenants.

Kimberly H. · Answer

Get formica that pretends to be granite. Gets the updated look on the cheap.

Mike Wood · Answer

I am also a fan of granite and quartz for nicer rentals.  I find it definitely attracts a better tenant and can command higher rents.  I have formica in one unit of mine, and it wears out.  After 7 years, its due for replacement.  I doubt the same could be said about stone or quartz.

Alexander Felice · Answer

Formica is dirt cheap. Get the standard pieces at the box store and cut to fit. When I priced my home it was like $1200 for granite or $300 for formica. If your prices are really close then maybe it's worth granite, but I think if you shop those prices you can find a much bigger spread.

for a B-C apartment building I would take formica no discussion.

Chase Gochnauer · Answer

Yeah our in stock laminate here is about $69-$125 for a 12' section, or like <$3-$6/SF. Compared to $30/SF it's quite a big jump.

http://www.menards.com/main/kitchen/countertops-la...

Todd Plambeck · Answer

If you buy off the shelf laminate counter tops from a big box it's much closer to $10 sf.  Not sure your going to get a return on paying for granite in a B- area.

Kyle D. · Answer

What is the monthly rent on these units?

Granite or Formica for kitchens in rental unit?

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