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Laminate of forget it?

SStein430
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We have had our townhouse on the market for quite a while. The carpet is in decent shape but our price allows for a carpet allowance. Would it be better to take it off the market, put in hardwood and put it make on the market at a slightly higher price, or just keep our fingers crossed.

Thanks.

July 25 2007 - US

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geswhiz
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I was glad I got to pick out my hardwood myself. I was renting, so I could take my time. However, from what I understand, people would much rather buy a place that doesn't need work. It did take time to comparison shop for the product, find and interview installers, and of course get the actual work done. I started shopping before the closing, but even so I didn't move until a month and ten days after closing.

Do you have feedback from realtors who have showed your home, so you are certain that this is the issue?

July 25 2007

rodmanbob
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I think you would be better to put in the hardwood. We did this with the last house we sold and actually more than broke even on our expense. The comments by buyers were very positive after the change.

July 25 2007

texashome
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Here is one thing to keep in mind:

Here was how my husband saw things in the past when house hunting: if you see carpets you don't like, it is easier to tear them out and replace with your own choice of hardwood or tile,etc....than if the seller had put in hardwoods that you'd feel not so good about all the tearing out of it (as you are PAYING for it in your price).

I remember he saw a nice home but the person installed the wood floors themselves and used quarter-board (cheap technique) and it was not professional....and they were pushing "wood floors"....why pay for that and then tear them out? Old dirty carpet would be cheaper (you are not paying for it). A bad job can cost you the sale.

I would put in the hardwood if you had it professionally done w/ transferrable warranty.

I understand what you are saying...it shows better w/ hardwoods...some people are put off very much by "having to do" the flooring as the carpets are worn. Wood would show nicer, of course.

Just some ideas to kick around/keep in mind.

July 25 2007

scjobe
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I've had agents in the past tell me that hardwoods show better, therefore sell more quickly, so even if you don't get a higher price for them, you will probably make up the difference in holding costs; i.e., the mortgage you're paying while waiting for the house to sell. Just don't do a shabby job, go with a mid-scale pre-finished hardwood using a reputable installer. Lumber Liquidators often has very good prices, and check Angie's List for reputable floor installers in your area (an independent local is usually cheaper and does a better job than the distributors or a 'big-box' retailer's contractors).

- CJ - architect and experienced remodeler/flipper

July 26 2007

Czadd
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Get yourself a Costco membership and buy their laminate flooring and do it yourself. It's cheap, easy, and you really get a good bang for the buck. Our room looks much bigger than it did with carpet so it will show really well, but if the buyer wants to get rid of it they won't have to regret the loss of some expensive hardwood floors. Everybody wins.

July 26 2007

Fictional Agent
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Personally, I would put in laminate floors so that when potential buyers walk in they say "wow!" rather than cringe, and you explain that you're willing to give them a carpet credit. First impressions are HUGE.

July 27 2007

eweez2010
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Laminate? Laminate says cheap to alot of people. Kind of like difference BT formica or laminate counter and granite. On the other hand, I don't see putting granite countertops in a 50's ranch house of 1000 sq ft that only costs $85,000. You need to consider the neighborhood and style/value of home. Personally, I'd much rather get a bit of allowance and pick out my own wood or carpet. I've seen SOOO many really ugly "new" interiors on the net, that I wouldn't trust most people's judgement. These people watch HGTV and then go crazy with the paint and renovating. Alot of times the BEFORE pic actually looks better than the AFTER! If I really liked the house I'd buy it anyway then just replace w/my own style, but sometimes, I think I wouldn't buy the house cuz the owners had to be really dumb and who wants to buy their dumb stuff anyway?

July 28 2007

eweez2010
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Be careful listening to real estate agents. Remember it is YOUR money being spent and it might not help the house sell better at all. Listen then make your own decision, or get several opinions, esp people who can "think outside the box". A lot of the agents certainly helped build the irrational exurberance surrounding the housing market, which is now crashing for alot of people. Oops! Never seen it in all my years....etc.

July 28 2007

GollyGeee
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We put a mid-grade laminate thru out our place and we love it. Most people think its hardwood. Pick nuetral, not too dark. Its easy to clean too.

July 30 2007

Rob Robertson, "Mortgage Broker"
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Rob Robertson, "Mortgage Broker"

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Since you already have the house on the market, I would recommend NOT spending any more money on the property, at this time, especially considering the current market.

EXCEPTION: If your house smells like pet urine, "smoke," or there is considerable damage to the existing carpeting/flooring, then by all means you should go ahead and replace the flooring. The "Smoke" I am referring to would be from a previous fire in the home, not necessarily from tobacco smoking. If it's pet urine, the subflooring probably needs to be cleaned/treated as well.

If you offering a credit for flooring, then that gives the buyers the opportunity to select any type of flooring that he/she might like. That's plenty of incentive for a buyer who's seriously considering purchasing the townhouse.

Sure, the home might show a little better with shiny hardwood floors, but a motivated buyer will buy the house with the existing flooring.

Good luck!

July 30 2007

cboe
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i would have to agree with the morgage broker a motivated buyer will buy a house even thought the carpet may need to be updated.

July 30 2007

lucydjacobs
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It depends. But I lean toward adding the floors in the high-traffic areas. Practical reason:

Buyers lose a month or two moving in waiting for floors to be installed, because why move the furniture in just to have to move it off the floors later?

Intuitive reason:

If the home is older, a decorating allowance is a HUGE red flag - at least to me. That says to me, before I even look at the home, that the owner who hasn't bothered to update the pretty parts of the home probably didn't bother with the electrical, roof drips into the attic floor, plumbing upkeep - the stuff the owner didn't see every day. If they haven't gotten rid of the worn avocado shag or the '80s mauve, and they see that stuff every day, then who knows how long it's been since they've had the furnace checked, the chimney cleaned, the leak under the tub checked.

I have laminate in one bonus room only (rest are hardwood) and so far the feedback from the lookers is that buyers don't like it, even though it looks almost identical to the real wood floors in the home.

Carpet is ok in bedrooms with buyers, I've heard, since bedroom carpet isn't as worn down as older carpet in hallways, so looks newer. And people don't mind it in bedrooms. Warm feet.. so maybe you can just replace the entryway, living area and hallways with wood.

July 30 2007

lucydjacobs
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Just to explain the first part: If a buyer needs a quick closing and has to wait to move in, that increases their cost of getting into the home if they have to pay a new mortage, rent for a couple of months while floors are being picked out and installed if installers are busy, or a hotel for a few weeks and a storage unit if they have to close on their home before floors would be done.

So given a choice between buying a similar condo with new floors or one without, the newer floors with less stress for a couple with kids or with a new job and stress from a long-distance move - the less stress condo will win. It will also have a different "feel" when the buyer walks in, and what you want is love at first sight.

July 30 2007

Marci Reinheimer
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I vote for looking pretty when the potential buyers walk in. Most people do not have the vision to see what can be.

July 30 2007

dolphinscott
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From my experience and others I've talked with, 80% of buyers have no imagination. None. Zero. That's why staging works better than not, and that's why we're all so concerned with remodeling as opposed to just making the house clean and in good repair. True, my carpets need replacing but my realtor has advised me to hold off and has a flooring allowance....fortunately, a runner over a worn area covers the worst of it, and I even had someone comment (he was a different realtor looking at my house) that the carpets didn't look like they needed replacing :) so the carpet at least isn't detracting. Nonetheless the new owner will be able to pick their own flooring.

A really, good deep carpet cleaning is probably worth the price even if it will get replaced with the new owner, because a dirty looking carpet will make a clean house look ...... dirty.

September 17 2007

sas912
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SStein,

I have to tell you I am really opposed to the idea of laminate flooring. I would not only not consider it a plus, I would want an allowance to take it out. If you are going to do it, do it with some of the thicker engineered wood/veneer products which are not all that expensive compared to carpeting and are pre-finished so they are easy to install.

September 17 2007

Rachel Pajaczek, "Seattle Agent"
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I've seen some REALLY nice wood laminate-- not in people's homes..but in the stores.. What I find is people usually buy the cheapest, crappy stuff. Like whatadeal said...just going up a little to mid-grade instead of cheapest makes a WORLD of difference! To me, if it's crappy laminate, it's the same as crappy carpet--needs to be replaced.
Go mid-level laminate or hardwood!

September 19 2007

ferson
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I have had wood floors and love them and not been crazy about laminate-but laminates are much improved. The look is better by different colors and types and I am thinking of putting some in. Unless it is an older house or a pricey house that looks like it should have real wood you should do laminate if your floors really need it. Most people prabably can't tell what kind of wood is used let alone if it is real or not and laminate is now popular and accepted. I don't like allowances - they draw attention to something wrong- says fixer upper, more hassles.

September 19 2007

Lesterbird
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Very high quality laminate can be an improvement over cheap wood. We actually ripped out cheapo damaged wood and put in good planked laminate. It wears better (cooking, kids, pets, etc) and is lower maintenance. Almost everyone thinks it's wood. Also use the high quality underlay - feels more like real wood. Made a huge difference in the wow factor when first walking in the house.

September 22 2007

deborah matthews, "the broka"
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deborah matthews, "the broka"

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In this market i would not suggest making a change and raising the price. I think you have made the better choice by providing the credit to the buyer,however i would put a cap on the amount and give the buyers the opportunity to make their choice of carpet/wood flooring.Should they choose something out of the credit allowance to meet their need they pay the difference. Also in my marketing of the units I would make certain the credit is utilized as a strong "selling tool".

September 22 2007

teardowns dotcom, "Teardowns.com"
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teardowns dotcom, "Teardowns.com"

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We had the best quality laminate floors you could get in an office we used for two years. It was just installed when we moved in, and there were only two of us using the room at the time

You wouldn't believe how awful it looked when we moved out - just from normal wear & tear. There was a huge difference in the condition of the floors that were walked on VS the areas under our desks, etc. I couldn't begin to imagine how it would have been had there been even greater traffic from more people, furniture and pets.

That's when I vowed I'd never go near the stuff, or suggest it to a client.

September 22 2007

Callista, "warriorprincess"
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Callista, "warriorprincess"

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I would also insist on an allowance to remove any of that crummy stuff (laminate), if it were in a home I were considering bidding on.

September 26 2007

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Keep the carpet in this market. You might not recover the cost of the new flooring. And callista, laminate is not that bad. Wood is very difficult to take care of. I have it and it's not as great as everyone thinks it is. It only looks good in the new construction since very few people walk on it.

September 26 2007

teardowns dotcom, "Teardowns.com"
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teardowns dotcom, "Teardowns.com"

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The wood floors in my house are extremely old, antique actually. And everyone that comes through the door raves about them. I guess they have held up very well...

September 26 2007

Happy Owner
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If your carpet is in good shape and not an outdated or outlandish color, I would keep it and not offer a carpet allowance. As a potential buyer, I would hear carpet allowance as a red flag for something is wrong with the carpet. Real hardwoods are nice, but not everyone's cup of tea. I also own a townhome and have both laminate and carpet. Most townhomes in my neighborhood have laminate on the first floor in both the kitchen and the living room. I elected for laminate in the kitchen, but kept the carpet in the living room. My decision was two fold. 1st, I didn't like the transition of carpet to laminate in my entryway or against the stairway to the second level. 2nd, I find that the laminate floors are really hard to keep clean. I have two cats and it is easier to vaccuum cat hair than to sweep cat hair. Flooring is a personal decision, but I agree, carpet is easier to change out.

September 26 2007

Callista, "warriorprincess"
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Laminate......Booooo!!! Hissssss!!!!

September 26 2007

CaliShannyNJ
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I disagree. We just put in laminate in our living room and hall and I love it. We took out old cruddy carpet. I have a naughty dog that enjoys peeing on carpet. She won't do it on tile or wood or laminate (She has issues). We have had raves about how beautiful our floors are.

September 27 2007

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Callista,

Don't you think you are being greedy by offering less than 40% of peak prices AND demanding an allowance for wood floors?

September 27 2007

Callista, "warriorprincess"
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Nope....Carpet, tile,...even linoleum are fine with me...

Dont' you think that sellers are being greedy asking 60% more than what they bought a house for 5 years ago?

September 28 2007

Iain
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At the risk of adding more fuel. My wife and I put in a beautiful red plank oak laminate floor in our small ranch home kitchen and it is not only beautiful, but when we had our house appraised, the appraiser could not tell the difference between that and real wood. He had to ask.

September 28 2007

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