I recently purchased a 2 bedroom pre-construction condo in Chicago. (mostly as an investment)

For the master bathroom I decided to upgrade the counter to marble. (personally - I like marble but I only plan on living there 2 years)

A few people have told me granite is a much better choice than the marble -- is a marble bathroom counter top a poor choice if I'm looking to sell it in 2 years?

Flickit

...more durable than marble but why would moving in 2 years make a difference which one you choose? Don't understand your logic?

sepmayr

Granite is generally a lot harder than marble, making it more scratch and stain resitant. Marble is chosen for bathrooms, because it is warmer to the touch. If there is a high calcium content in your local water supply, you should take in consideration that the chemicals that you would use to remove calcium stains from fixtures and servaces, will also damage the varnish on the marble. No such concern with granite. Granite, most likly will look just the same in two or two hundred years, making it a better choice in terms of resale value.

labman

A Realtor might be able to give you a better opinion of the resale value of marble vs granite.

There is real marble and cultured marble. Unlike pearls, there is a big difference in what the 2 are. Real marble is formed under ground when heat and pressure changes the crystal structure, but not the chemical properties of limestone. Limestone, marble, pearls, and cultured pearls are all calcium carbonate. The acids, commonly used to remove the hard water stains left by limestone containing water, will dissolve one, as well as the other.

Cultured marble is made by adding ground limestone to an unsaturated polyester resin. The limestone is protected from acids by the resin. However, the resin is even easier to scratch with abrasive cleaners.

Chicago does get its water out of the lake? If so, hard water stains should be less of a problem.