Selling... carpet has huge stain

[lataraw]

Carpet in one room has huge stain. Not the best carpet otherwise but as a buyer I'd think it's ok for a while. No way stain will come out (tried everything), currently has a rug over it. Do we:

1 recarpet that one room (though it wouldn't match the rest)

2 recarpet whole house with something cheap but at least in good condition

3 make what we can of the floorboards under the carpet in that room and sell like that

4 leave the rug there for viewings and don't say anything if no one asks (obviously this feels sneaky, but quote to recarpet whole house was 3k and that would be a huge challenge right now)

Thanks

This.

Either carpet the one room cheaply if you feel it’s absolutely necessary but the ideal option I think is to leave the rug but mention it to the estate agent to let prospective buyers know. It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest - I don’t look at decoration or floor coverings as I’d likely change them to my own taste anyway.

It wouldn't bother me, it would bother me more if someone put a brand new cheap carpet down as that would be a waste.

I don’t think it’s work re-carpeting one room, never mind the whole house. What are the chances that your eventual buyer will like what you buy? And if you do it on the cheap they’ll see that anyway and factor a replacement into their offer. I’d leave the rug, then mention either at viewings (though I always let the agent do them) or on the F&F form.

Deceiving them out of a carpet? It’s nothing that is structurally part of the house or dangerous. If anything I’d think of it as a furnishing and if like the OP says it looks a bit tatty because it’s been down 5 years then they aren’t going to expect it to be perfect and will most likely have plans to change it and decorate. If not leave them the rug! Point it out on viewings and declare it on forms but really no need to spend 3k recreating a house when potential buyers could come in and rip it up!

Leave it and admit it in viewings. I bought my house with terrible carpet stained with kids slime and paint in one room. I wouldn't have been keen on a new carpet I didn't like as would feel I couldn't replace it

I didn't even realise that having matching carpets throughout a house was a thing, except in student rentals etc where the whole place is recarpeted frequently.

I would go with 1 or 3. But having properly-presented floorboards wouldn't be any cheaper than carpeting. If you do recarpet and the whole rest of the house is one colour, I would go as different as possible from that to avoid it looking like you've just failed to match it properly.

Can you not claim for the damage on your home insurance to get it replaced?

Yes, I thought it was just new builds and some rentals between tenants that had the same, I couldn't imagine shifting all the furniture to have the lot done, it's bad enough one room.

If room is the living room i would polish the floor boards, if a bedroom id leave the rug for viewings then once sold offer the buyers the choice of new (cheap) carpet or £500 off the asking price

Look for carpet end-of-roll that might fit the room which will help bring the cost down. But certainly don’t do the whole house.

Leave the rug where it is. The people who buy your house will probably want to replace the carpets anyway.

I would show the carpet and offer to leave the rug to help out in the short term until they’re ready to recarpet.

Leave the rug and tell them there is a stain. It’s not going to really put anyone serious off.

‘this house is perfect, Jeffrey. Close to good schools, quiet road, perfect size, huge garden.’
‘I know my dear, but I can’t, there is a stain in the carpet. I know we will want to replace the carpets and we could cover it with a rug but I can’t do it. Carry on looking’

If the floor boards are even halfway decent I’d sand and varnish them (you can hire a sander for a day quite cheaply) then put the rug back. Decent floorboards are very attractive to buyers and you’d be showcasing what else they might find when they lift the rest of the carpet.

You could just have it cleaned! 😁

No point changing it as they may hate the new carpet as much as the stained carpet. I'd get estate agents advice but I'd be keeping it as it is with a view to knock some money off if they ask. It's not a dealbreaker at all unless the rest of the house is show condition and you're expected buyers haven't got the wherewithal to overlook or discuss it.

Leave the rug say nothing. It's money down the drain for u and the new buyers might get rid anyway.

When we moved in to our current house there were lots of stains on the carpet that a large rug was covering. Was a bit of a shock lol. Didn't matter anyway as we planned to decorate and replace as soon as we could.

I’d do this. Don’t spend money on something a buyer might want to rip up immediately anyway but you should be honest.

Leave the rug, mention it on fixtures form.

Just to add that you could get a quote or two for re-carpeting that room to the same standard as existing in the rest of the house. So if they do try to knock money off you can prove exactly how much the recarpeting would cost and they can't knock you down by too much.

Do you have any spare bits of carpet? I always get the bits left and keep them in the loft 'just in case'.

If so, a good carpet fitter should be able to cut out the damaged area and insert a replacement piece cut from your spare almost invisibly, save for any wear and tear. If you do have spare bits, I would do that, and keep the rug there too.

Edited to add: there are various You Tube videos on 'how to patch carpet seamlessly' if you feel brave enough to DIY (and have spare carpet obviously)

Because estate agents won't mention things like that. I've tried before to be honest and not waste time but they aren't known for letting you do that.

Thanks all - huge range of views. Think we will leave the rug, mention on fittings form and mention if anyone asks at viewings (or ask the agent to do so). Tbh I think you can see from other parts that it will need recarpeting!

Recarpet the one room with something the right colour but cheap.

Some people will immediately recarpet, some won't (people that won't walk on someone else's carpet are weird). I would not leave it with a rug over it.

The fixtures and fittings list doesn't get shown until well after an offer is made. Someone making an offer and then finding out you concealed a terminally stained carpet is now immediately suspicious of the entire house and everything else you've said about it. There's enough distrust in conveyancing as it is without making yourself out to be a CF when it's entirely avoidable.