rental property: wood or carpet?

Question

Our old tenants are moving out of our rental property and we need to do some repairs and improvements. Before we rent it out again, we have to change the carpet in the house. Would it be better if we have wood floors instead? maybe a mixture of both?(depending on which room) This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 living, and 1 kitchen house.

Answer 1

just paint and carpet, fix minor repairs and do not do any improvements. Because it is a rental property and want to rent it out again, do not pour more money in. Chances are that the new tenants won't take care of it any better and you will have to fix everything again. Later down the road if you decide to sell, then that would be the time for improvements.

Answer 2

I think it depends on if you are trying to upgrade the property a lot or not. If you go with the wood floors it will be more expensive but you can charge more because it will be nicer. I'd say if you do wood floors, use them in the living room and kitchen but keep the bedrooms carpeted.

Answer 3

I would go for a linoleum that looks like hardwood. Carpet would have to be replaced with every tenant change, and Hardwood is expensive and would get scratched and damaged easily. I've had tenants that could nearly destroy a place in a matter of weeks. The tenants can put down their own rugs if wanted but in most lower income areas they probably won't bother. Also if you put the same flooring of whichever kind in all your units along with the same paint color etc you can stock up on replacement and repair stuff and always have it on hand. Good Luck

Answer 4

Cheap carpeting, as cheap as you can get without it looking tacky. Wood floors in a rental is ridiculous. In your house you don't move furniture in and out once a year, in a rental there is that potential even with the best tenants. Your floors will be destroyed with normal wear and tear.

Answer 5

If you spend serious money refinishing a hardwood floor, you're putting that floor at the mercy of a new tenant. Do you REALLY want to do that ? There is a reason nearly all rentals have carpets in them. They're fairly easy to replace.

Answer 6

For a rental, carpet no question. It's cheaper, and can be more easily replaced when damaged/dirty. Wood floors are expensive and easy to damage.

Answer 7

I would think carpeting would be easier to clean & cheaper to replace than a wood floor. what if the tenants had dragged heavy furniture on your wood floor & gouged tracks in them. then you're either filling them in (& they'll look like crap should you decide to sell the property later) or you'll be replacing them.

Answer 8

Laminate! It looks nice, its easy to clean, and if your tenant takes a big chunk out of it, you can always do a "board replacement," so make sure you purchase extra.
Carpet almost always ends up having to be professionally cleaned or replaced. Hardwood scratches easily, I wouldn't recommend it. You could end up resanding after each tenant until there is nothing left of it! lol Also, you could probably install laminate yourself, so you save the installation fees.
A lot of companies (particularly Pergo) offer great looking laminate with lifetime scratch resistant warranties. Check around!

Answer 9

I would use a commerical grade carpet in a dark tweed like color for the living room and bedrooms. Tweed hides stains and the commerical grade wears well. Use a decent grade tile for the kitchen and bathroom.

Answer 10

I have engineered, fake wood laminate, in one of my rentals. It looks good and is pretty much indestructible and cheap. I wouldn't put it in a kitchen or bath though, it doesn't do well if you bet a large enough amount of water gets on it.