Replace carpets to sell house?

jozxyqk

Lots of votes for RugDoctor there....if they're not too much to rent I think we'd best give one a try before anything else.

If we can get them looking reasonable I'll be happy, anything better will be a bonus. If it doesn't work we'll get new ones - I think it could make the difference between people offering or not.

Either way once it's done the house will need to be more like this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanroom
and we'll eat and drink outside ;-)

Many thanks for the replies.

moneyistooshorttomention

Waste of your time and money to replace carpets. Just clean what you have.

I had some pretty new/decent quality/neutral carpets in my last house and the buyer was planning to chuck them out.:eek:

I don't agree that you would have a lower offer made because of something that was nothing to do with the house itself (ie the carpets). As far as I can see, buyers only make lower offers on a house because of work the house itself needs to have done.

TBagpuss

I think a lot depends on the value of your house. It's one of those things where it is certainly going to make the house easier to sell, as it creates a good first impression, but may not really make much difference to the price.

I would try getting them cleaned, and then decide - it may be that a good clean and some IKEA rugs are all you need.

It may be worth getting a couple of agents out now, and asking them what they think. They won't criticise your house unasked, because they want your business, but if you say that you are considering whether to replacethe carpets and ask them what they would recommend marketing for, and expect to get, now, and if you were to replace, and see what they say.

When I sold my house, I was very up front with the agents, and made clear that I was aware that (for instance) the bathroom was old and in need of replacement, and asked them specifically what difference to the price I could expect to achieve if I did the work.

They all said much the same and it was clear to me that the cost of doing the work would be more that the difference it was likely to make to the price.

However, in my case, I was selling a small, starter home, and the most likely buyers were FTB , and I think a cheaper house and a tatty bathroom you can live with until you've saved up was probably quite attractive. If you are selling a larger and more expensive home then the presentation and appearance may be more important and make a bigger difference to the price.

Changing the carpets will make the house more attractive so it may sell faster, which may be a consideration, particularly if the market is slow in your area.

jozxyqk

TBagpuss wrote: »

I think a lot depends on the value of your house. It's one of those things where it is certainly going to make the house easier to sell, as it creates a good first impression, but may not really make much difference to the price.

However, in my case, I was selling a small, starter home, and the most likely buyers were FTB , and I think a cheaper house and a tatty bathroom you can live with until you've saved up was probably quite attractive.

Changing the carpets will make the house more attractive so it may sell faster, which may be a consideration, particularly if the market is slow in your area.

I would describe it as being a starter home for FTB or possibly small families. Unfortunately the market here is very slow, so we'll probably need to do anything and everything to achieve a sale.

Zoology_Dragon

If you haven't already tried it do give Rug Doctor a go. We use one every time we vacate a rental property and they're brilliant. Even did a great job on ridiculous cream carpets that were looking really grubby just from normal usage.

teddysmum

OP, you mention having cleaned the carpets, but not with a Rugdoctor. Well, we have a Bissell , no longer used, and there's no comparison. Ours son's Swan , actually spread a stain we tried to clean and steam cleaning only moves the dirt around, unless you use lots of towels or have an expensive extracting steam cleaner.


If you go for a RugDoctor hire, ring round, as some outlets do a special weekend two day offer, which takes off the pressure to finish before returning time.

UpToMyNeckInIt

jozxyqk wrote: »

I would describe it as being a starter home for FTB or possibly small families. Unfortunately the market here is very slow, so we'll probably need to do anything and everything to achieve a sale.

A good clean is the cheapest option, but a lick of neutral paint throughout, and a cheap new carpet, will make your house look and smell like a new 'blank canvass'.

It might just give your place the edge that you need, for a relatively small outlay.

Good luck.

jozxyqk

I just wanted to add, I hired a RugDoctor last week and it's removed the majority of the stains - particularly the tea, coffee and calpol spots upstairs.

Lounge has been improved but that stain (from a spilt footbath) has been there for years and probably will never come out.

So all in all a good result for £<50. We may still replace the lounge carpet but the other ones can stay put so that's going to save us a lot.

Thanks for the advice.