Should I Redo the Floors Before Selling My House?

One of the most common questions sellers ask themselves before listing is "Should I Redo the Floors Before Selling My House?" Before prospective sellers list their home on the market, many consider renovating various aspects of their house. Year after year, flooring renovations are some of the most popular. No matter which type of remodel -- e.g. bathroom, kitchen, exterior, landscape, roof, etc. -- homeowners all have one thing in common. They are hoping to increase the value of their home and secure higher offers once their house is listed. According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2017 study “Promoting Home Ownership: Remodeling,” redoing floors in one’s home was one of the remodels most likely to recoup the amount spent and increase the value of the home. According to NAR, new wood flooring recovered 91% of value, topping the list of interior home remodeling projects. Kitchen upgrades and bathroom renovations only returned 67% and 58% of value on average. 

NAR’s 2019 Remodeling Report reinforced the 2017 findings, noting that realtors asked to “rank interior projects in terms of their appeal to buyers” repeatedly listed “wood flooring” at the top of the list. Several questions remain, however. Should prospective sellers always replace carpeting? Should they always choose real wood over pergo? Is tile superior to linoleum or vice-versa? Which rooms should flooring be replaced in if the budget is tight and not all can be renovated? And finally, is it really worth the effort, money and time to replace the flooring before listing your home? Follow below for more information about floors homebuyers love and whether a remodel might be worth it in your home.

When Should I Redo the Floors Before Selling My House?

When Floors Are Damaged - YES

Though many sellers renovate flooring when it is simply outdated -- rather than damaged -- it is almost always necessary to repair damaged floors before listing. The House Logic article “7 Important Repairs to Make Before Selling A House” lists fixing damaged flooring as the number one “most important repair to make before selling.” Damaged or otherwise unsightly flooring is a major turnoff for prospective buyers, explains Colorado Springs, CO realtor Susanna Haynie. Quoted by House Logic, Haynie notes that fixing damaged floors does not always mean a full gutting and replacement. In some cases, you can “wax and buff your hardwood floors yourself to save money” or have them refinished professionally. If the floors are in terrible shape -- however -- you might need to “swap out old flooring for new hardwood.” Haynie recommends replacing “scratched-up wood flooring” and “ratty carpeting” wherever possible. 

When Floors Are Outdated - YES

Is your home plagued by yellowed linoleum, off-trend tile patterns or outdated carpeting? If so, replacing your flooring might be the best way to increase your home’s value before selling in today’s marketplace. Valerie Kafrin writes in her article “Should You Renovate Your House Before Selling it?” for HomeLight that forgoing simple renovations like replacing ugly, out-of-style flooring often means selling your home “as is.” Unfortunately, “you’d have to sell your house for a steep discount to get this type of offer.” Kafrin writes in another article for HomeLight that replacing carpets in a “higher-end home [in which] the carpets are decent” might not be advisable. However -- according to Atlanta real estate agent Leighann Russell, interviewed by Kafrin for her article -- carpet that has “seen better days” or been exposed to pets should almost always go. Russell explains that “a few thousand dollars to replace” outdated carpeting is “money well spent.”

When Floors Are Carpet or Linoleum Rather Than Wood - MAYBE

If your home’s tiling, carpeting or fake wood flooring is in good condition, generic and on-trend, it might not be worth it to replace the flooring with real wood. However, replacing flooring with new wood panels is one of the most valuable renovations you can conduct in your home. This is according to the recent NAR 2019 Remodeling Impact Report. The report notes that “for interior projects, the highest percentage cost recovered was from new wood flooring at 106 percent." NAR has found that “hardwood flooring refinishes at 100 percent.” If your home’s flooring is still in good condition, however, your home’s value might not increase enough with the new hardwood to make the time, effort and expense of ripping out old flooring and replacing with hardwood worth it. According to the HomeAdvisor true cost guide “How Much Does Hardwood Flooring Cost?,” the average cost to install new hardwood flooring is “$4,541.00,” with a typical range between “$2,495.00 and $6,751.00” for a single room.

Which Kinds of Floors Do Buyers Want?

Hardwood

Most buyers will prefer hardwood flooring throughout the home, writes Julie Ryan Evans in her article “The Best Flooring for Resale Value: Wood, Tile, Carpet, and Beyond” for Realtor.com. Evans writes that “wood floors are one of the best investments you can make.” Wood floors are a great investment because they are “durable, versatile, and most buyers love them.” Swapping out linoleum or carpet throughout most of your home can “boost the sales price of your home as much as 2.5%,” Evans notes. In some areas, replacing carpeting or linoleum with hardwood might be particularly worth it. Quoting Sotheby’s International Realty agent Fiona Dogan, Evans writes that “wide-plank hardwood floors are the best type for resale in the Northeast.” However, in areas like the South and Southeast -- where the climate is humid and mold, mildew and water damage are common -- you might want to leave the hardwood behind. 

Ceramic Tile

For homes in humid climates or those prone to flooding, Evans recommends replacing damaged flooring with “tile, stone [or] marble floors” before selling instead. If replacing floors with ceramic tile, be sure to shop around for installers and choose the best price. Evans encourages shopping around because the ROI on ceramic tile is “largely determined by who installs it." This is because “most of the cost of ceramic tile [goes to] labor.” One of the situations in which ceramic tile is the ideal renovation is when existing flooring is unattractive linoleum, Evans writes. In these cases, “replacing sheet vinyl with affordable DIY ceramic tile” could result in a 200% ROI! However, the Bold Floors’ article “Should You Install New Flooring Before Selling Your Home” explains, “the one place you might consider replacing old carpeting with new is in the bedrooms.” This is because carpeting is “still a popular choice in those spaces, where they are less likely to get stained and where they provide an extra layer of warmth and comfort.”

In short, replacing outdated, unpopular or damaged flooring is typically a good idea and a great investment before listing your home on the market. However, cost of labor and preferences in your region should always be considered before deciding on which room’s flooring to replace and what kind of flooring should be chosen.