What would you do either the carpets in this situation?

[Aydel]

My late mother’s house, and we are preparing it to sell it. I’d hoped to get away with a coat of paint and filling in the holes in the walls, but we’ve had a moth infestation and the carpets have been well and truly eaten.

My dilemma is whether we leave the carpets with very visible moth damage, or buy cheap new carpets to look better when we sell it. The alternative is, I know that there is parquet flooring in the sitting room (and possibly the hall?) not in very good condition, which we could get repaired.

The moths have gone - we have fumigated the house, but I think the eaten carpets might put off new buyers. Any suggestions welcome!

I’d definitely get rid of moth eaten carpets. Even if you say they’ve gone it’s a very visible issue. I think repairing parquet expensive. I’d get a plain cheapish carpet.

Thank you!

Parquet as is (buyers can have "vision") and eitger v cheap carpet or rugs

I think rugs might be better depending on condition.

Any buyer is going to know it.needs.serious work

If the rest of the house is in top notch condition, then yes, I'd change them but if anything else needs doing- dated bathroom, dated kitchen, old layout etc etc then don't. Get some rugs/plants to cover what you can and leave it.

I spent weeks re-painting my nans house when she moved to a care home on the advice of some of the real estate agents we saw. Absolute waste or my time and money. They new owners stripped the kitchen, bathrooms, re-modelled the rooms etc. Its one thing I really regret doing.

Sorry for your loss.

I’d definitely remove carpets, assess parquet and if in a reasonable condition add some rugs. If it’s a probate sale then most buyers expect to do work but parquet even if needing renovation is a good selling point. Did she have any nice mid century furniture to match? If so I’d definitely retain that to dress the house. It’s v popular currently.

It is a probate sale. It’s quite an “old lady” bungalow, and I would expect similar to buy it. The estate agent advised us to give it a coat of paint as it looks very grubby (she was a smoker), and leave the furniture in - eg the three piece suite and dining table in the sitting room, the bedroom furniture, the study. It’s not particularly dated - the kitchen is plain white units that look quite current, but the bathroom is very old lady, cream, gold and pink. I’d like it to look as good as possible - so that someone can think that they could live there while doing some work, if necessary. I’d expect a new bathroom, and possibly a new kitchen, but I’d think a new owner could live with freshly painted walls. We’ll have a look at the parquet and stick some rugs down. The moths seem to have shunned the study but the sitting room and hall are particularly bad.

I'd have all the carpets removed and pay for a deep clean, then paint all the walls white. Then leave it. Very likely the buyer would end up getting rid of your cheap carpet so better to save them the hassle of removing it, and you wouldn't want to risk the moths returning to eat a new one.