Flooring Allowance or Replace (negotiations, commission, sale, most expensive)
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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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A good local realtor can tell you what buyers are looking for. Here, for example, no one wants carpet, it has to be hardwood, and not laminate. That's a significant cost, but allowance or not, people are more likely to offer a higher price if the flooring is newer and is what they are looking for. Having ragged, dirty old carpet puts them off, even if everything else is good.
What you consider may needing replaced, may be only your opinion. In my opinion, ours needed replacing, but, my realtor did not agree. In my mind, I was willing to give a carpet allowance IF ASKED. Well, our home sold in 3 days of listing it, full price. We closed end of October. They did not ask for a carpet allowance, lol. The only thing they asked for was up to $1000 for repairs if anything was found. We agreed. There were a few nit picky things found that we could have fixed ourselves, but, chose to hire a professional for $300 total. We just wanted a neutral party to sign off on it. Good luck with your sale.
I replaced carpeting in a rec room before I sold. The existing carpet looked acceptable, if beginning to show some signs of age, until I moved the furniture to stage. Oops, I had completely forgotten about a huge wine spill that I had moved the furniture to hide
I got some mid-grade carpet based on the feedback from my realtor - he said that new carpet smell often appealed to buyers and the stain would be a problem for most. I chose a neutral but darker color knowing that people would be coming through the house in showings and who knows what dirt gets tracked in. Wouldn't you know it - people still complained. "I don't like the color" and "I don't like berber" were two comments I got as feedback after showing. If I could do it over again, I probably would still redo it since it helped show the house better, but I would have cheaped out and bought the least expensive stuff I could, expecting the buyer to replace it with something more their style.
Well, if you are planning to put in hardwoods, that would be a definite plus -- a lot of trouble to go to, though, for a house you're moving out of. I don't think you'd get all your money back on it on the sale, but probably a good portion of it. I think I would be tempted to put in a neutral, inexpensive carpet and just stop thinking about it. :-)
You can go with a medium grade carpet. I just did new carpet on a rental remodel. Yeah its rental carpet but its not the cheapest. You can get carpet for as low as 65 cents. It's really cheap though. 99 c is mid grade.Complete replacement of carpet 6 pound pad and. All new tack strip. 2100 bucks. And the reason it was so high is because it had wrap around stair steps. Those run $40 each x10 steps. 99 cents per sq foot on carpet and 65 cents sq ft for the pad. 1100 sq feet.
Go with a neutral color and 6 pound pad. You will not notice the difference between 6 and 8 pound. Lowes is a ripoff on carpet and they don't have a big selection.
If you're moving out put as little as possible into it. I don't mind carpet but if its trashed ill offer less
I bought a home last year that had 25 year old carpeting. That thing was sooooo DISGUSTING!!! Mild and mildew growing in it. Stains with who knows what. That crappy carpeting was part of the reason I made a VERY low offer on the house. I was the 42nd person who looked at the house in 4 months. They took my lowball offer and didn't even counter. they had already bought a new house and moved. Without my offer, this house would still be on the market. I was purposely looking for a house that needed work so I could make it my own. I also wasn't about to spend a penny more than I wanted to.
Now if they had replaced that DISGUSTING carpet, it would have helped them sell the house. To me that piece of crap said they didn't care about home maintenance. And it turns out I was right.
Spend the money on a decent neutral carpet. Don't go super cheap and don't go expensive. A crappy carpet WILL affect how long it takes to sell your home and the price offered! A carpet allowance would have made me offer even less for the house because you knew it needed work and were too lazy to do it.
Almost all real state decisions are area specific. Allowances are big in some areas, not so in others. Just like flooring, different things sell better in some areas instead of others. Some places, hardwood is the thing. In other areas, the first thing a buyer does, is cover it with carpet. In my area, vinyl goes in kitchens and baths. I have worked in areas, where only ceramic was acceptable in those areas. Find a good realtor, they can tell you what is hot in your area.
I would replace it. Odors in the carpet can be overwhelming when someone walks into the house the first time, even after it is cleaned. Owners get used to the smell, but I've been in homes where it was so strong, I wanted to hold my breath.
Visually, it will be a HUGE negative to many buyers, who want move-in ready. It definitely will affect the offers you get, even with the allowance.
As an old time real estate broker with my own office for many years till I retired, let me tell you what I was taught in professional real estate classes, and saw worked by experience.
A worn out carpet like you say you have is a big problem. They say curb appeal is the thing that sells houses. Curb appeal happens twice. 1: When the potential buyer comes up in front of the house. In about 20 seconds the curb appeal says this may be the one, or they are turned off completely and will never buy the home. 2: When they enter the home. If the first thing they see is dirty old worn out carpet, it tells them the house is old and worn out and they will not buy the home.
I used to buy homes that were not selling for far below their market value if they were appealing. I had a crew that worked part time clean it up, paint and change carpet as needed, and always put a fancy chandelier in the dining room which was kept on. That one thing (the chandelier) said class and I always got a top price for one of those homes. I made what they consider a good middle class income from those houses alone. An allowance for the carpet, does not give them a good first impression of the home. Worn out carpet when they enter the home, makes everything else about the house look bad. Don't buy too cheap of a carpet. Go to a carpet store, not Low's, etc. Tell them what you want in a good carpet, and am willing to take one you give me a good deal on. You are not particular which carpet, as long as it will look good to a potential buyer. Those stores have something that is not selling, they would like to get rid of and will make you a good deal to get rid of it. I know as I entered real estate after working 10 years in the furniture/carpet business. You may have to contact 3 or 4 stores to find the one you want at the price you will pay. Don't get too low priced pad. A good pad, makes an average or cheaper carpet, feel good when people walk on it. That feel will help sell your home.
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