So the time has come to sell your property and you’re hoping to increase its value by installing some new floors. Or maybe you’re just toying with the idea and wondering how much a new floor might boost the worth of your home in the event that you ever had to put it on the market. Will new floors add value to my home at all?
The quick answer is yes, updating your floors will typically add property value to your home. But how much? There’s no point adding new features to your home, and investing precious time, money and energy into a project. If you’re not going to make a profit when it comes time to list your home in a real estate’s catalogue.
You need to ensure that you can spend money to accumulate profit. When moving onto pastures new, you should head to a site like MortgageCalculator.Org to work out how much of a deposit you need to secure the home of your dreams. If you require a little more than the equity in your home currently, you need to update some of the features in your pad to maximize your resale value.
Identifying which floors need fixing
It’s not uncommon these days for homeowners to receive an offer on their property as soon as it shows up in the pages of a catalogue. That is because in today’s hot housing market real estate investors and first homebuyers are ready to snap up every parcel of land and housing that becomes available, particularly if it is move-in ready.
If your prospective buyer is a first homebuyer, they will want to find a home that doesn’t require much in the renovation department. They simply want to move their belongings in and settle in for the long haul.
On the other hand, if they’re an investor, they’ll want tenants to move in as soon as possible. This is because the sooner somebody is paying rent, the sooner they are making a profit on their investment. They’ll want the house to be a safe, habitable and attractive environment without much need for an overhaul or remodeling.
In either instance, they’ll want to do as little as possible in terms of renovating. The fewer fixes required of your property the better.
This means if your floors are intact and in a great condition, it’s likely to be an asset rather than a liability. With this in mind, it’s important that should your floors be damaged and showing wear and tear, it goes without question that they’ll need to be replaced.
Signs of damaging include stained carpets with frayed fibers or edging; warped vinyl from a bygone era that has become unstylish or unfashionable; timbers that are lifting or have become twisted or water damaged.
If you can’t spot any of these signs across your floors and they otherwise appear to be intact, fashionable, and clean, great, you may not need to change them at all.
However, if you put your Carpet Doctor’s cap on and happen to identify any of these symptoms across your floors, the likely diagnosis is that they’re sick and in need of replacement. It’s time to rip up your old floors and lay down something solid and reliable, such as hardwoods or laminates.
If you’ve decided that the floors in your living areas are up to scratch and need nothing more than a little sprucing up, we suggest if nothing else that you swap the floors in your kitchen and bathroom for something newer. This is because kitchen and bathroom floors tend to outdate really quickly, so installing something of a more modern variety in these spaces will immediately enhance the value of your home and increase the return on your investment.
Cost vs Value
There’s little need to point out that the less you spend the more you save.
You can generate savings by making smart, economic decisions around the products in which you invest. In other words, buy cheaper products that won’t cheapen the look or durability of your floors.
To give you a quick rundown, hardwood floors typically cost more than carpets, but they will outlast carpets for years and years to come. Carpets experience a lifespan of about 10 to 15 years on average before they need to be replaced, whereas a high-quality hardwood floor can literally last forever if they’re treated and cared for properly.
The same can be said of natural stone floors, such as granite and marble, which will last a lifetime if they’re carefully maintained, but they’ll cost a bomb in terms of a financial outlay.
On the other hand, there is a smarter, safer alternative in choosing a high-quality laminate floor. The right laminate floor can deliver a high performance and last as long as a hardwood floor, but they’re available at much more reasonable prices.
The trick is to strike the right balance between choosing a great floor that won’t blow your budget. In our opinion, the best bang for your buck probably lies in laminate floors. These cost less in terms of an initial outlay, meaning they’re a great short-term option for those on a budget. However, they’re also a long-term investment because they create a neat, modern appearance that will last an awfully long time, thereby driving up the financial value of your property without spending as much as you would on say a natural stone or hardwood floor.
For the best laminate floors, you may want to consider checking out Swiss Krono laminate floors, as well as the Swiss Krono AquaStop ranges, both of which are comparably cheap and look absolutely great in whatever space in which they’re installed.
Floors that give the best profits
Hard surfaces, such as those described above, typically give the best return on investment.
Natural stone floors create an atmosphere of uptown elegance that will make a home feel like a place of luxury and indulgence. They typically boost the value of a home, but cost a lot to get installed. Therefore, unless you’re not limited by a budget and you really wanted to create a feeling of opulence, we don’t usually recommend installing these types of floors before a sale.
Hardwood floors, on the other hand, are probably a wiser investment. There are fewer floors that attract the attention of the median buyer like long, gleaming planks of polished timber.
If you already have hardwood floors installed, you can get them refinished, a process whereby the surface of your existing floors is sanded back to make them look like new. However, if your hardwood floors are beyond repair, then it’s probably safer to replace them.
If this is looking like it might cost you too much, our personal recommendation is to go for a laminate floor. These aren’t as pricey as the hard surfaces listed above, yet they’ll add a classic appeal that will stand the test of time and handle high volumes of traffic for years to come, thereby making them a very cost-effective option for the frugal and thrifty renovators who are looking to sell their home.
At the end of the day…
If you’re looking to sell, it is a great idea to update a few key features in your home, one of which is the floor, as it will heighten the impression your home has on any potential sellers or investors.
You can change the entire look and feel of a house by updating the floors. However, you should let your budget and good common sense dictate any decisions you make around the type of new floor you install in your home.
If you’re not limited by a budget, you can go for the timeless natural hardwood or stone floor. If you’re looking for value for money and the biggest bang for your buck, you’re probably better off investing in a laminate option.
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