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I like carpet in bedrooms but would never cover up hardwood if I had them. In our current house it is newer so there are no hardwoods underneath. I just steam cleaned the spare bedroom and my living room over the weekend because the cats had a barf fest. I complained the whole time and said I wish I had hardwood in all the rooms.
As far as buyers go, I would re-finish the floors to showcase they are there. Then if the buyers want to add carpeting to the bedrooms that is not a huge expense.
Take a look at the natural stone tile for flooring if you are getting confused between hardwood and carpet. Natural stones nowadays provide with a wide range of variety in colors and designs.
Indeed hardwood flooring is reasonable and they need less maintenance than natural stones. But there are also engineered stones which requires less maintenance than natural stones and they will come in your budget too!
fallingwater - you could always take up the carpet and have hardwood instatlled. My daughter did that with her house. It came new with a neutral carpet over the underfloor and when she had lived there a few years they had the hardwood installed in the whole downstairs except for the kitchen. What a great improvement.
You use the word "prepping" so I assume you're either renting to new tenants or selling the house, but not living in it yourself? Those are very important distinctions. My opinion regarding those 3 scenarios would be to put down new carpet for new tenants to protect the nice hard wood floors until you sell or move in yourself. If you're selling, have the floors refinished and use area rugs. Hardwood floors are much more expensive looking if you're trying to sell than carpet, even if it's new. New typical cookie cutter homes are wall to wall carpeting up and down because it's cheaper and people are tired of that look. And new home buyers don't want to remodel, they want it "perfect", but hardwood floors may draw some buyers that would normally go for a new house. If and when you ever move in yourself, you can take up the carpet and have the floors refinished. Good luck.
Hardwood flooring is better than tiles, I would suggest hardwood flooring offcourse. But not to forget about the varieties that tiles provide better than hardwood
I have a dilemma. I am prepping up a house that was vandalized by previous tenants and basically I will entirely redo the kitchen, bathroom and all the floors.
Upstairs, in all 3 bedrooms my contractor tore the carpet and underneath lies beautiful hardwood floor that can be easily sanded.
Now, I believed that hard wood floors are in. My realtor said no, put carpet. People want carpet upstairs in the bedrooms.
What is your opinion? The realtor has 30 years of experience in the area I live in. However she gave me what I perceive conflicting advice, or so it seems to me.
Thanks.
I cannot imagine any realtor suggesting against hardwood floors, even in cold and snowy Pittsburgh. Hardwood floors throughout will increase your home value, and most buyers look for it...it seems.
Hardwood floors are not necessarily "in", but wall-to-wall carpeting is a bit 1980s. I can see the appeal of carpeted bedrooms, but I wouldn't bet good money on your realtor. And considering they are paid something like 10% of the final sale price, you are. I have worked with a few in the past who seemed to know nothing more than to pull a few comps. I would ask an assessor, in particular the bank or what-ever financial institution granted your mortgage. Since you are asking about their investment, they'd be the most honest, and eager, to increase its value.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
Hardwood covers all preferences because it provides finished hardwood floors to people who want them...
Hardwood floors come in all sorts of styles and colors. Some boards are thin, others thick. Some are very lightly stained, others come in shades so dark. Some are 100% natural, some are engineered.
When I lived in Maine, my home still had the original 1860 floors throughout. And they were painted...with paint. Not my preference, but still. One more reason why I love upper-Midwest and Northeastern homes.
What type of flooring is "in" varies widely from area to area. As someone who has installed all over, I have seen preferences change in 100 miles. I would go with what your local realtor suggests. They usually know the local market better than anyone.
In my area, carpet and vinyl is still king. Go 100 miles north, it's hardwood and ceramic. No way I would use laminate in anything but a rental. It lowers the home appeal a bunch.
I have a dilemma. I am prepping up a house that was vandalized by previous tenants and basically I will entirely redo the kitchen, bathroom and all the floors.
Upstairs, in all 3 bedrooms my contractor tore the carpet and underneath lies beautiful hardwood floor that can be easily sanded.
Now, I believed that hard wood floors are in. My realtor said no, put carpet. People want carpet upstairs in the bedrooms.
What is your opinion? The realtor has 30 years of experience in the area I live in. However she gave me what I perceive conflicting advice, or so it seems to me.
Thanks.
The main thing you need to view yourself as an investor... by putting in carpets will you really be able to charge more rent in order to offset the cost of the carpet? I doubt it and once again, for me I don't want carpet anywhere, especially if I'm renting because who knows how dirty it is!
Disclaimer: We have 4 rental properties right now and I am also an agent and mortgage loan originator.
When we sold my mom's house early this year, we had quite a time getting her carpets cleaned. She had done HWF on the main level and it looked great. Upstairs there was a cream colored carpet that was about 15 years old. It took four professional cleanings to get that thing looking decent and we had to scrub the corners several times to get out stains. Pain in the butt. We had thought we might need to give a flooring concession, but luckily we found a buyer who didn't care. They said they were planning to put in HWF upstairs anyway-- that none of the houses they looked at even had HWF downstairs like ours did, so they felt like they came out ahead.
I think hard floors are so much easier to maintain. I can't understand why people want carpet.
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I complained the whole time and said I wish I had hardwood in all the rooms. 
