Replace carpets to sell house?

jozxyqk

Just after some opinions from those with more experience in selling houses.

We're thinking about moving next year. We're in an ok area, 3 bed semi built in 2005, garage, big back garden. We bought in 2007 just before the crash so asking price will be less than we paid :mad:.

Although the house is in decent condition overall it looks a bit shabby inside and probably not enticing to FTB. The lounge, stairs, landing and bedrooms all have the original cream / beige carpets that look shabby and/or stained. We've tried carpet cleaners but they haven't had much of an effect.

Would it be daft to replace some or all of them cheaply to make the place more presentable? Or are buyers open-minded enough to think 'manky carpet? Who cares? We were going to replace it anyway'?

I'm aware that carpet replacement is not trivial as we have a lot of furniture that would need to be removed. I'm leaning towards replacing the lounge and maybe the stairs & landing carpets as they're more visible and will be seen first. The bedrooms will be a real pain to clear.

Are professional carpet cleaners any good?

Or should I just buy a bunch of huge rugs??! :rotfl:

eire13

Just wondering if you have tried the rug doctor. I have just hired one to do my upstairs and found it really good. It removed stains really well.

rheme

Have recently put a house on the market for sale and whilst the living/dining room carpet is of good quality it was quite stained.

I got a professional carpet cleaner in and for £45.00 it looks like new. Much cheaper than replacement carpets/rugs.

ellie27

If it doesnt clean and look good and it remains shabby then definitely replace.

Shabby carpet = shabby house = not looked after = looking for a good bargain as I will have to spend several ££££££££s on replacing carpets and ........

Vampgirl

Having looked at what looks like 100s of carpets over the past couple of weeks, I think that so long as the carpets are clean I would rather have the option to replace them to my own taste. Obviously I would want some kind of discount to take the cost of carpet replacement into account though.

When we were looking for somewhere, we viewed a house that had obviously old/worn carpets. We didn't like the house but the carpets weren't a factor at all in that decision.

Unless you are going to replace them with qood quality carpet, I would just clean them up as best as you can and be prepared to accept a lower offer.

teddysmum

Some 'professional' cleaners only use a RugDoctor . We hired one which even removed old grease marks and were so impressed that we bought our own (blue) machine.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Another one for rug doctor to give it a good clean, buy lots of product though.

If you feel like you should replace them you can buy reasonable carpet for £6 a m2 delivered, and buy a fitting kit for around £30 from DIY place and do it yourself.

I have just fitted carpets to 3 of my rooms and not that hard if you take your time. I have very good underlay though, not the paper and rubber that turns to dust.

LandyAndy

jozxyqk wrote: »

Would it be daft to replace some or all of them cheaply to make the place more presentable? Or are buyers open-minded enough to think 'manky carpet? Who cares? We were going to replace it anyway'?

it's the difference between thinking 'Ew, manky carpets, they have to go ASAP' and 'Oh, new carpets, not quite to our taste but they'll certainly do for 18 months'

smifffy1989

Could do it cheaply, ours cost about £1,000 for 5 rooms and stairs.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Hired a steam cleaner for grubby beige carpets in a rented flat, and the transformation was amaznig (although does make you wonder about the filth you've been walking round on for years).

I think you can get away with shabby decor more in an older, period property. In a new build, without the newness, the properties don't often have much to offer in terms of size and character.

LEJC

I guess it depends what market you are pitching the house to....to me it wouldnt make a bit of difference if it were new or old carpets...even better if there was nothing and I could see the floor underneath...but then thats me and I dont expect to move into a house thats done up...I much prefer to put my own stamp on it and wouldnt want to pay a premium for the new carpet of your choice...