I would definitely check with a realtor, and check houses in your neighborhood that have sold.

What is your realtor advising? Changing up the styling of the rooms will help to sell your home, too.

I wouldn't invest in new flooring, you'll never see the cost back. Only replace the bedroom carpet if it's really bad. It could be that you're priced too high for the location. What is your real estate agent suggesting?

I do agree there's a preference for hardwood vs carpet. However, I also agree with functionthenlook's comments based on past experience with selling various properties. Buyers are likely to change whatever you put money into. Markets can differ greatly, so your realtor should know best. We once sold a property thinking we had to do several things first, including replacing bedroom carpet and refinishing hardwood. Our realtor convinced us not to, and we were glad we listened to him.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

For a little more context:

Our agent advised against replacing any flooring (including the 10+ year old carpet), and we went with her recommended list price. We left the carpet, which has been cleaned but still has some staining and pulls. Then, it sat on the market for five months despite two price cuts totaling $26,000.

That's why I'm now considering flooring upgrades. We've heard from other agents that many of the people buying in our neighborhood are first time buyers who are intimidated by homes that require work, which is why I hoped that flooring upgrades might help us sell quickly when we relist.

I would only replace the carpet if it's really, really worn, or if it's obviously stained and can't be steam-cleaned. The concern is that you don't want anything in your home to look dirty. I wouldn't replace the hardwoods. I would lower the price accordingly.

Great context, maybe the pros can weigh in. I'm just wondering, is that painted-over wood paneling on one wall in the family room? If it's just that one wall, I wonder what the realtor would say about replacing the wall, as long as you are bothering to do the floors. Depending on the price, it might look a lot better. I'm sure the pros have better ideas!

Thanks L none. It is painted wood paneling, but it's on every wall in that room, and it's a big room. I've been shocked by quotes just to paint it; I can't imagine what it would cost to replace it.

Got it- I wouldn't bother with it if the realtor hasn't mentioned it. I thought maybe it was just that one wall. Good luck!

Maybe change out the carpet, but I would not spend the money on extending the hardwood.

I wouldn’t put money into things that a buyer is ripping out. Ask three Realtors to give you CMAs. Pick the one who sells the most listings. This is not the time to go with inexperience. I think one problem is the furniture placement. Post more pictures and ask some of the very generously talented pros on here to make the rooms look bigger. For example, the rugs are in the middle of the floors making the walkways narrow. When I sold two years ago, my Realtor was honest with me about the furniture she wanted me to put into storage. You will be moving so all this has to be packed anyway, do it now. You want your home to look as spacious as possible. This seems silly, but keep the toilet seat down, buy new towels that you will not use until after you move (they lose their fluffy quality if you wash them), pack up anything you don’t have to use, clean out those closets to make them look bigger. I promised my Realtor my house would be “show ready” EVERY morning after 9:00. I made a check list so my DH could do it if I was at work early and as a backup reminder to me. Fresh flowers on the island, Granny Smiths in a wooden bowl on the table, all the lights on for a showing.

Maybe if you find someone that is interested in buying your house, but comment that the carpeting must go or the paneling must be painted or the floors changed, you could offer them a discount for doing what they want..... A friend of mine sold their house by giving them a carpet allowance, because they did not like the carpet....worked for them.

Thanks so much for the tips, remodeling1840. We actually moved out about a month after listing, so the house really only had what it needed for staging and was always show ready. Good feedback about furniture placement though. Since we're since taken all our furniture to the new house, we'll only have what the staging company recommends/provides when we relist.

Jordan, I wouldn't worry about the painted paneling. I actually like the look when it's done well. When we bought our current home the walls were covered (every room!) in pretty hideous wallpaper. There's no way we would have passed on the house because of it.

Thanks, erinsean. We were certainly prepared to do that. My agent had instructions to offer an allowance to anyone who mentioned the carpet. Sadly, we didn't get that far with most potential buyers.

I refinished a wood floor be for I sold the MILs house ..the buyers tore it it out and put down carpet !

Along the same line as Snaggy, we had friends who put in granite counters before listing their house. The buyers took it out and replaced with quartz. You just never know for sure.

I would think a flooring allowance would make the most sense.

I would much prefer being able to choose exactly the flooring I wanted versus knowing I had paid for someone else's taste.

This would be especially true for carpet since hardwood is much more neutral and carpet (style and color) limits choices. I lived with theoretically neutral beige carpet when I rented an apartment and it wasn't at all what I would have wanted to decorate around.

From what I can see, your house looks too sparse to entice someone to visualize it for themselves. Perhaps some pillows or a throw for the couch in the living room.

I would remove the big dark mirror or painting over the couch. It is too oppressive.

I think that it would look better if you swapped the rugs. The blue one doesn't do much for the living room, but could flatter the blue couch in the family room. The carpet in the family room looks as if it would be better in the living room.

i would just replace the stained carpet, that’s a real turn off for buyers . Replace with a basic low to mid range carpet, new & clean for showings. That’s all.

If the carpet is stained, I'd consider that bad condition and replace it. If I see something dirty like stains in a carpet, I start looking for all the other faults. Don't go expensive but don't leave stained carpet and expect it to sell.

Opinions can vary so much. Our current home was empty when it was on the market. It doesn't get more sparse than that. I liked seeing it "naked" since it helped me envision it more with our things. The best thing you can do is clean and declutter. From what I can see in the photos here, it looks like you know that.

yeah - wish I had the actual photos from the listing available. I just loaded whatever I had on my phone... doesn't really do any of the staging justice, but it shows the floors, which is what I was going for.

If buyers wouldn't want their baby/grandbaby crawling on that stained carpet, replace it. That's all! If you don't have any quirky rooms/spaces that can't define themselves to buyers' eyes you may do better without staging. Space sells itself if all is clean and bright.

Offer a $2000 (or whatever seems reasonable in your price range) flooring allowance in the listing. If you get any offer below full list price, you can reduce or eliminate the flooring allowance. I commonly did this for my clients and it was a win/win for both parties.

Please add the current listing photos when you can to see if anything Negative/positive stands out. Painted paneling and your tile would not block my purchase of your home. I agree that you should replace the worn carpet.

You are in an 'entry level' home if the buyers in your area are "first timers". As a former first time home buyer, I wanted 'move in ready'. I also had a stupid-low budget. So I had to compromise.

Flooring is intimidating. Mainly because it requires EVERYTHING out of the room when it is being finished. And that is a MASSIVE hassle. Massive. Everyone can envision painting but very few can imagine stacking all their possessions in a single room so that flooring can be done.

I would change the carpets in the bedrooms. I would replace 'like with like'. Carpet to carpet. The tile in the family room is off-putting simply because it is cold, hard and noisy (TV noise bounces around horribly with tile where as wood/carpet absorb some of the noise).

If you can afford the full hardwood throughout (including hallway) I would do that. If you cannot, then leave the tile in the hallway (I'm assuming it starts at an entrance way which would make sense if the attached hallway was left alone).

The one thing you want to do is ensure the colours of all the flooring are a really great match. I can see that the tile is a handsome match to the hardwood. That's good. I would use this match as a way to pick the bedroom carpet. The rule for multiple floors is: if you cannot get all the same floor, at least get a tone-on-tone match whenever possible. If the material isn't continuous at least the COLOUR can be.