Posted by David Krulac on October 01, 2001 at 20:37:43:
Sam,
An old timer told me that if you’re going to sell put in wall to wall carpet.
If you’re going to rent put in hardwood floors.
He felt that hardwood could substand more punishment and still look good versus carpeting.
I just put Pergo in the dining room of a rental and also in the halls for basically the same reason. The hall is a high traffic area and the dining room gets food spills, drinks, wine etc. and hardwood is easier to clean and last longer.
Besides the rent/sell factor there is also the price range of the house. Higher priced houses can absorb the higher price of hardwood versus lower prices.
and another factor is what is the competetion doing? What’s in the houses down the block or on the next street. If your competition is doing hardwood and you’re not you suffer by comparision.
imho
David Krulac
Does it pay to put in Hardwood floors? - Posted by Sam Ennis
Posted by Sam Ennis on October 01, 2001 at 18:54:20:
I was recently at a conference where a “marketing expert” during the course of her talk mentioned that they found it highly profitable to put in hardwood floors in the living room and kitchen. The speaker was a marketing type. Does any one have experience in this area? Any information would be appreciated thanks. Specifically:
How much does it cost to install hardwood floors?
Once installed what are the maintenance costs versus
carpets.
What sort or rent increase were you able to achieve. I
realize that whether it pays may be highly local. If
you could give the area your property is in and the
before and after rents that might help me to determine
how comparable my property are. I have two projects
in the Portland OR area. One has two bed units that
are about 760 Sq ft, rent for $615 and is in close in
SE near the Ross Island Bridge. The other consists of
upscale townhouse units in the West slope area. The
units are 1140 sq feet and rent for $825.
Thanks a lot. Any information is appreciated.
Sam,
Justifying the extra expense of hardwood floors, pools, and other such expensive stuff is difficult at best. The way I look at it is this:
if all the other properties in the area have them (whatever them is) and yours does not, then you probably should do it. If the area expects these type upgrades, you probably should do it.
Otherwise not.
I’d check and see what others in the neighborhood have compared to what you have to offer.
Just my opinion.
BillW.
Sam,
I don’t do rentals, only trailer rehab stuff but I’ll chime in here. I prefer the laminate stuff myself. I wouldn’t spring for Pergo just the bottom of the rung stuff is fine for my purposes. It’s relatively cheap (buck a square foot on sale at Menard’s) compared to real hardwood, easy to install and is very durable. (You might want to step up to middle of the road stuff for a longer life and the wear and tear of a tenant). I stick with the same light oak color…makes it easy to repair if it’s damaged and I only do a 6x6 area right inside the front door and maybe the dining area. Really classes the place up. Gets lots of ohhs and ahhhs when people first see it and I would guess it’s possible, depending on the area and the rest of the unit condition, that it just might help you market to a higher paying clientelle.
All the best, Lyal