Convert half bath?

[Minna Reid]

I start a rehab next week...it's a 3/1.5 cape. The washer and dryer are currently in the half bath. My original thought was to leave as is, but do you think it would make sense to move the W/D hookup to the basement to create a laundry room, and convert the half bath to a full? I'm thinking it should be easy and cheap enough as the water lines are already there and perhaps a 2 bath as opposed to a 1.5 bath would make for a better sell? 2 bedrooms are located upstairs with the full bath, and right now the half bath is adjacent to the 3rd bedroom downstairs. I have to have a plumber out anyway for a few other things so I should be able to get a decent price on this. Thoughts? Oh and do you think I need to pull a permit for something like that?