How much will not having a fireplace hurt our sales price?

by Fire Places on May 5, 2010

We live in Nebraska and built our home last year. To keep costs down, we didn’t build in a fireplace and opted to have an electric type to move around instead. All the comps I have been doing have fireplaces/hearth rooms and I am hard pressed to find a home without a fireplace here. How much will that hurt when we sell? I know we may exclude certain buyers who absolutely want one, but it really wasn’t that important to us. I am just looking for a general figure…..our home is 4 beds, 2.5 baths and about 3000 sq ft with finished basement and 2 car garage, built in 2007 and bought for 177k.


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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Heather Y May 5, 2010 at 6:00 am

On our appraisal when we bought our house (with a fireplace) 6 months ago we had $1000 added against the comps without fireplaces. Our house is 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2K sf, 3 car garage for slightly higher price than yours in Idaho.

Gem May 5, 2010 at 6:00 am

What part of Nebraska?

And really, the majority of houses do not have fireplaces.

Good luck.

Worldly25 May 5, 2010 at 6:00 am

Lack of fireplace will hurt a bit but your biggest concern is the drop in housing values and the inability of buyers to qualify for a mortgage.

tink May 5, 2010 at 6:00 am

Tough question, it depends on the buyer. Also it’s almost the season this stuff goes on sale, look at the home stores for a discounted vent free fireplace.

Richard D May 5, 2010 at 6:00 am

An electric type to move around sounds like a space heater–which is no comparison to a fireplace. But I thinki you have answered your own question. It may–or may not–be important to a particular buyer. I wouldn’t attach a particular price tag to it. The buyer will look at the whole package. If the exact same thing is available with a fireplace–and the buyer wants one–they might choose the other. But for some, a fireplace might be a meaningless structure which limits the usefulness of the room. In that case you might have an advantage.

One Step Ahead May 5, 2010 at 6:00 am

It depends on the buyers. I have friends who never light their fireplaces. One friend said the first time that they lit the fireplace it caught on fire. The people before them never cleaned it out for years.
There are some nice faux fireplaces that they could install if they wanted too.

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