Get an estimate from a floor refinisher. Add to the price of the house then
offer prospective buyers choice of refinished floors or $$ toward new
carpet. A small enticement often can make the difference.


"Ken Korona" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on selling my home this spring. Currently I'm doing a lot of
work to put it in as good shape as possible. The entire house has
hardwood flooring (common 2 1/2 inch wide oak). Currently the living
room, dining room, and master bedroom are carpeted over the hardwood. The
carpet is in pretty skunky condition, not terribly worn, but very dirty.
I've had carpet cleaners come in and it makes it a little better, but
there's still a lot of stains.

So my question is what should I do with the flooring to improve
saleability the most? I guess my choices a

1. just get the carpet cleaned

2. install new carpet

3. remove the carpet and refinish the underlying hardwood flooring.

My wife in convinced that hardwood is far and away preferable to most
buyers. Personally, I prefer carpet to hardwood flooring. I realize it
is an individual thing, but are there any stats that say, for example, 75%
of buyers prefer hardwood over carpeting?

The house is a contemporary ranch, located in central New Jersey, circa
1978, and has a full basement so these floors are not on a slab. Asking
price will be somewhere in the range $450K - $550K.

Thanks