Upstairs - hardwood or carpet?

[Anonymous]

Besides, it doesn't matter what might be popular with your mom's clients in whatever 3 states she is working in.

What matters if she is trying to sell her house is what is popular in bedrooms here.

And that happens to be hardwood.

[Anonymous]

Offer potential buyers money at closing to go towards replacing the carpet themselves - this way they can either replace the carpet (if that is what they want) or they can put it towards installing hardwood floors.
Either way you're out the same amount of money and if you install new carpet that the buyer doesn't want and ends up ripping up as soon as they move in, it's not like it's money "wasted".

[Anonymous]

Def. hardwood. We just bought a house in Arlington and the first thing we did was rip up the carpet and refinish the hardwood floors underneath. Next step will be some thick natural fiber area rug. And we don't even have allergies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Offer potential buyers money at closing to go towards replacing the carpet themselves - this way they can either replace the carpet (if that is what they want) or they can put it towards installing hardwood floors.
Either way you're out the same amount of money and if you install new carpet that the buyer doesn't want and ends up ripping up as soon as they move in, it's not like it's money "wasted".

op here - this seems like a good idea, but if the house will show better with hardwoods then I worry it will take longer to sell with the old carpeting. plus, very little needs to be done to fix the house other than that, so I wouldn't want it to be a dealbreaker for someone looking for turnkey condition.

[Anonymous]

I just don't see carpet as being an issue in this market, especially if it otherwise in turnkey condition.

[Anonymous]

Hardwood. We took up the carpeting in our former (1937) house and found nice wood floors in good shape.

Now doing the same in a reno/addition on our 1950 Broyhill and, again, nice wood floors revealed under carpeting. We have plenty of nice area rugs we can use on the hardwood.

Far nicer in a bedroom than carpet laden with chemicals, dust, dust mites, etc.

[Anonymous]

A PP here. Very first thing you should do is pull up a corner of your carpet and see what you're dealing with. If you have hardwood under your old carpet it's an easy decision: pull up the nasty carpet and finish the existing hardwood, depending on the condition you may be able to eat away with just a polish job, since it's likely a new own might want to refinish a different color anyway,

If you just have subfloor under the carpet, ask a realtor what they recommend in terms of maximizing your profit / minimizing your hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I think carpeting in the bedrooms is like granite countertops. There is a "niche" group of people with more expensive tastes who prefer hardwoods in the bedrooms, but the preference for carpeting in the bedrooms is much more common. Likewise there is a minority of people with more expensive tastes that find granite to be passe and want something else, but the very significant majority of home buyers still consider granite to be THE surface of choice for home purchases.

Very different. Many with allergies want hardwood for health reasons. Granite is cosmetic. I could care less about granite, but if a place had carpet I'd have to calculate thousand extra to put in hardwood.

Also consider that the hardwood would last longer. Sure, carpet is cheaper short term, but replacing and cleaning it adds up.

[Anonymous]

I should have said thousands extra, plural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that buyers will definitely prefer hardwood. Are there hardwoods under carpet, OP? If not, do you think it's worth the extra money? Are you replacing the floor only for resale or will you live there a while? I would prefer hardwoods, but carpet wouldn't be a deal breaker.

op here- not sure if there's hardwood underneath or not. if there is, it's probably in pretty bad condition. We'd be doing this just for resale, and I'm not sure it's worth the cost. definitely would completely replace the carpet bc/ it's gotten beaten up over the years, but wondering if it's worth the extra cost to put in hardwoods. it's only 2 bedrooms and a hallway. i personally prefer carpeting in bedrooms because I think it's cozier, but it sounds like I am in the minority.

If there is hardwood underneath, defn redo the hardwood if possible.

[Anonymous]

I rented a carpeted place with old hardwoods underneath. Landlord let me tear up carpet and have hdwds refinished. Floor company sent someone out for free to look at the hwdwd - they tore up a corner and even though the floors were from 1906, they were able to refinish them nicely. Ten uears ago, the rpice forthis in dc was six hundred dollars per 1000 sq ft. Two bedrooms and a hallway would probably cost about that pus inflation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally I think carpeting in the bedrooms is like granite countertops. There is a "niche" group of people with more expensive tastes who prefer hardwoods in the bedrooms, but the preference for carpeting in the bedrooms is much more common. Likewise there is a minority of people with more expensive tastes that find granite to be passe and want something else, but the very significant majority of home buyers still consider granite to be THE surface of choice for home purchases.

I 100% disagree with the bolded statement.

We have lived all over the country, and the only people I have met who prefer carpet in the bedroom are older people. and my inlaws in the midwest who like carpet so much that when they redid their bathroom they installed carpet in the entire area, including the little water closet that houses the toilet.

The majority of people will prefer hardwood, and a much smaller group will want carpet in bedrooms.

I'm the quoted person. And my mother has been selling real estate for over 30 years in 3 states. This is info that she has from hundreds of clients over the years. There is a reason that anytime anyone suggests that they want to redo carpeting in the bedroom that they are told to lift up the carpet and check if there are hardwoods underneath. Because it is VERY common for people to cover up hardwood floors with carpeting in bedrooms.

Also, my own experience with quite a lot of people over the years is directly opposite yours. I've found that only people with allergies or people with higher end tastes are so adamant about having hardwoods in bedrooms and that many, many more people want comfortable well padded carpeting in the bedrooms unless they live in warmer Southern states, like Florida or Texas.

Those houses with the carpet over hardwood are almost always old people houses. They carpeted over the hardwood in the 1970-80s when that was the style. If your mom has been selling real estate for 30 years, she's at least in her late 50s. What three states did she sell in?

[Anonymous]

Hardwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that buyers will definitely prefer hardwood. Are there hardwoods under carpet, OP? If not, do you think it's worth the extra money? Are you replacing the floor only for resale or will you live there a while? I would prefer hardwoods, but carpet wouldn't be a deal breaker.

op here- not sure if there's hardwood underneath or not. if there is, it's probably in pretty bad condition. We'd be doing this just for resale, and I'm not sure it's worth the cost. definitely would completely replace the carpet bc/ it's gotten beaten up over the years, but wondering if it's worth the extra cost to put in hardwoods. it's only 2 bedrooms and a hallway. i personally prefer carpeting in bedrooms because I think it's cozier, but it sounds like I am in the minority.

Don't do it just for resale. I doubt that it will significantly add value and it's a hassle for you while you have 't moved. I prefer hardwood floor, but that did not stop me from looking at houses that have carpeted bedrooms. I just made mental notice: "first step after buying: change carpet to hardwood" and that is actually what we ended up doing. It is easier done anyway when the house is empty of furniture, and I got to put the cooler and type that I liked exactly. And there is a chance that someone may buy it who actually likes carpet. Or they like carpet but won't like YOUR carpet and will change it to a new carpeting. So really; don't bother for resale purposes.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, you can say that, but the reality is....it will make a difference in how people feel about the place.