Carpets - replace before selling? Your views appreciated.

[AzureBlue99]

Live in a flat, carpet throughout apart from kitchen, en-suite bathroom and main bathroom. Not a big flat - hall, lounge, two bedrooms.

We made a mistake last time with the carpet. Too light, and not great quality. It needs replacing.

We are thinking of moving soon, but it may not come off, due to work issues.My husband wants to replace the carpet before we sell to make the flat more sellable. He says it is beyond an industrial clean, he thinks it has stretched and is bubbling and will look worse. Rugs are not practical.

I say leave it, flooring is an easy thing for a buyer to replace and would not put off a buyer. The expense of it could be used on removal fees etc.

My husband says, let's get a cheap carpet in case we stay. If we stay I would want a good quality carpet, so getting a cheap carpet would not be a good buy.

So, your views

• ignore the carpet and don't replace if putting on sale soon (would it bother you as a buyer)?
• replace the carpet with good quality in case we stay?
• replace the carpet with cheap option in readiness to sell?

I was in the same situation and held off getting a new carpet for 2 years. We put the house on the market and it then fell through, so we got a new carpet. Spent a good amount and got a good quality carpet. Wish I'd done it 2 years ago. Even if we try to sell again in the next year I won't regret having a nice carpet in the interim.
I love it and it's stopped me from being embarrassed of my house.

I'd replace with a mid-range one (or put some sort of hard floor down). We replaced our downstairs areas that were carpeted with hardwood flooring as it's much more practical, at least it was for us.

@PrudeyTwoShoes Were you moving though? Or thinking of?

I'd leave it if youre likely to sell. As a buyer, it wouldn't worry me as thetes always going to be something that needs done when you move, and youve no idea if the buyer would choose the same flooring as you would anyway.

As a buyer I am swayed by a newish good quality carpet because I know it's something that isn't going to be a priority for a while. I can move in and settle for a bit.

Mmm, mixed views. Bugger!

As a buyer, I hate to see brand new carpets (good or cheap) in the listings, because I know I’ll replace them with hardwood flooring and it will hurt to throw away a brand new carpet.

If you have wood flooring in decent condition, get rid of the carpet.

I always put carpet in a skip before I even move in, whether it's new or old. I just hate it.

I think you need to know first if you're going or staying. No solution really suits both.

Presumably the lease dictates carpet rather than hard flooring, for noise reduction?

i would replace it with a good neutral carpet ( not grey, that is going to date very soon) as it will give you increased comfort while you live there.

We just sold a tenanted property with two downstairs rooms , hall stairs and landing recarpeted for 1k. It transformed the space. We did also repaint where needed. It was a pleasure to walk into.

I got the carpets professionally cleaned which subsequently were taken up much to the annoyance of the neighbour below by my buyer. She didn't want a Sharps fitted bedroom ( only 3 years old) either so I got it removed and rebuilt in my new house. You can never account for people. Personally I wouldn't replace.

I’m hoping to move in the next 18 months and just had a new carpet in the lounge, up the stairs and the landing. I live on a muddy singletrack and it was filthy and thin - even a commercial carpet cleaner couldn’t improve it by much. It is keeping the rooms warmer this winter and just makes the house look cleaner and looked after. Even though I’ll move I don’t regret it.

At a push I'd get them cleaned. But no I wouldn't replace, anything you put down the buyer might not like anyway.

I can't advise on the second two bullet points, but when we bought our house the seller replaced allll the carpets throughout with a mid-price light-coloured carpet, but they needn't have as the whole place got gutted anyway, so the carpets went (we managed to recycle some of it thankfully).

If your house would be in an otherwise "ready to live on state" then it might not be such a bad idea, but if it's a do-er upper (not suggesting you live in a do-er upper!) or you think the owners might remodel eg take down walls extend, swap rooms... then I wouldn't bother.

As an estate agent don’t do it we recently sold a flat that had been newly carpeted through out with a new bathroom as the owner thought it would sell better. The new buyer has tried to bring the price down as she wants to replace the carpets and change the bathroom to her taste.

Ask an estate agent for their opinion would be your best bet.

When I bought my first flat the previous owners had obviously put a new cheap carpet in just to sell it (it had been tenanted for years). It annoyed me to no end and I lived there for about 5 years wishing I had just changed the carpet when I moved in! Eventually I put laminate down in the hall/kitchen/living room but the crap carpet had to stay in the bedrooms.

When I came to sell, the carpet was ok, it had def seen better days but was still clean enough. I asked the estate agent if I should bother redoing it and he said no way, it wouldn’t be a sticking point for any buyer. This was in Summer 2021 so the flat sold in less than a week 😅

We replaced with mid range one and sold quickly. And buyer emailed me to ask where to get more. Just your average beige carpet. I prefer hardwood flooring like solid oak but appreciate a new carpet to move into.

I wouldn’t replace the carpets if you are selling, as everyone has different taste, and it is a wasted expense. Personally, I loathe all wooden flooring so that would get ripped out even if it was new when I moved in.

Do the industrial clean anyway and see how it comes up.

Industrial clean the carpet and see how it looks.

It might be so improved that it not being perfect won't matter.

Please don’t put hard flooring in a flat! (Apart from kitchen and bathroom)
Keep your money, a new carpet won’t make or break a sale

I hate carpets...I ripped all of them out when I bought a house recently and kept the old hardwood floor that was underneath and put floor tiles in the hallway.

So I would not change them. Instead declutter the flat and clean everything.

The buyer will likely want to install something that matches their own taste anyway.

I'd get it professionally cleaned first. Definitely don't replace with cheap carpet.

And please don't have hard floors in a flat, likely against terms of your lease anyway.