House for sale and replacing carpet....what's your opinion?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If you go to the expense of putting in new carpets, I wouldn't bring the cats back in. Find someone who can cat sit for you until you sell.

[KidsHappen]

As a buyer, I want something that is in excellent condition as is and then I can make decorating changes later if I want to but I don't want to have to do any work before I move in. I am already busy enough. I would trust your realtor. She probably knows what she is talking about. The house has to show well. People want a house that they would be comfortable moving into tomorrow not one that needs work before they can move in and dirty, nasty, old carpet would be a definite no go for me. BTDT and I hated it. I had to rip the carpet up myself and install hardwoods. It was a PITA but my hubby bought the house sight unseen by me and he didn't even notice the carpet. He swears she had huge area rugs down and if she was a smart woman she probably put them down to sell because they were definitely not there much before that or the carpet wouldn't have been in such bad shape.

[staceyobu]

I think a lot of people say carpet allowance because money to spend on whatever flooring you want sounds so nice. However, I would venture to guess that a lot of those people would be turned off from looking at a house with current horrible carpeting.

 

I'd replace it.

[3littlekeets]

It is easy to say "I'd like the allowance," but I know too many folks who can't "fall in love" if there is bad carpet or wallpaper, so you'd simply lose buyers. If you want a quick sale, replace it! If you don't mind waiting, give the allowance.

[tex-mex]

I would much, much rather choose my own carpet. An allowance would be a wonderful incentive!

:iagree::iagree:

[KatieJ]

I would love an allowance, but the deal is this.. When you are house hunting, does the allowance actually come in cash? Or is it just the house is listed cheaper. So the couple comes along and buys your house because it is cheaper, but do they acutally have the cash to then put in new carpet? Do they have time to get the new carpet installed be fore they actually move? Do they have the experience to know how to buy new carpet? I think there are quite a few buyers out there who want it all done before they buy the house..they just want to move in and get in with their life.

See logic tells me that your house will sell faster if you replace the carpet. The house we are living in was sold by an interior decorator......what she did decorate was was done well, but very old. The house was immaculate, but 25 yr old olive green carpet. Huge turn off. I grew up with olive green carpet! Had we not been living in a hotel for 2.5 months while house hunting, I would have walked away. Yes, the price reflected that new flooring was needed, but there was no money left after closing to buy it. But the space was perfect, the price was ok.....and we did replace the carpet..........a year later. It was a long year.

[sadiegirl]

:iagree:

I would much, much rather choose my own carpet. An allowance would be a wonderful incentive!

[Scuff]

Another thought. I like dreaming and seeing potential in things when they're fixed up. So seeing ugly carpet isn't going to turn me off if there's an allowence. However, if I'm choosing between your house, that needs work, and another house that is move in ready, and the only difference is the carpet, I'm going to chose the other one. So, new carpet is also gonig to make you more competetive. Which you're going to need in this market. It does depend on the area though. I assume you're going to get your money back out of it. We're in MI and if we had to sell I wouldn't do a thing beyond paint and cleaning. We're already upside-down by about half our mortgage.

[Brigitte]

I am the same way. I can walk in the door and see past ugly carpet, old kitchen cabinets, etc. and see the potential. Dh, however, cannot. That is why we spent more on our house than we needed to. There were plenty of places that we saw that I would have been happy with because I knew what it would look like with a bit of work and cosmetic changes. Dh could never envision it, so we ended up with a move-in ready house.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Dirty old carpet also begs the question, "What else is wrong with this house?" The potential buyer will start to notice everything wrong (that mark on the wall, the chip on the corner of the drywall, the tiny peel in the wallpaper, the scratch on the mirror, the water spots on the shower door, etc.) Of course, these are normal wear in an older house, but you don't want to draw attention to any of it.

 

New carpet screams, "I am a well maintained home! I am clean! My owners take very good care of me. You would love living here."

[Crimson Wife]

I would love an allowance, but the deal is this.. When you are house hunting, does the allowance actually come in cash? Or is it just the house is listed cheaper.

 

When we got an allowance for the roof replacement on the home we bought in December, it came in the form of a seller's credit towards our closing costs. So the sale price was higher but we had to come up with less cash up front. OOH, now that the rainy season is over & we're having the new roof put on next week we'll be facing a hefty bill for the work.

[iquilt]

As someone who sold our house in August of last year, I will vote for new, inexpensive carpet. Our carpet was 10 years old and the realtor suggested neutral paint and new, neutral carpet. What a difference! We had a contract on our house in a week and sold for asking price without concessions to the buyer in anything. It was easy to take care of and made a huge difference in making our house stand out.