Anyone who has been through the process of selling their home understands the overwhelming stress involved. Many pieces must come together to prepare a home to be shown to potential buyers. You will probably clear out the cluttered spaces of your house and attempt to stage rooms to show their best qualities to others.
All of these tasks accomplish the same goal of increasing the appeal and value of a home. However, one of the most important factors of a home’s value is glossed over easily in the rush of staging and cleaning. Do not make the mistake of leaving your home’s flooring an afterthought when selling your home.
Potential buyers pay attention to the flooring in the houses they tour. Imagine it from their perspective. Updating the floors in a home you just bought is a big, unnecessary headache compared to investing in a move-in ready home. A house has more value to a buyer if they do not need to worry about replacing the floors.
Find out whether you need to revamp the flooring in your home before selling. There are many details to consider, including the size of the project and the style of floor used. You should also compare the cost versus the value of new flooring.
Consider the Value of New Floors
The booming housing market in Australia means that buyers expect a house to be ready immediately when it is put for sale. Younger buyers especially love the idea of settling in as soon as the deal closes. For someone selling their home, that means they should assess the state of the flooring in their house. Stains, warping, and outdated styles will mar the appeal for young buyers eager for a move-in ready home.
Focus on the surfaces with the most wear and also important areas around the home. For example, bathroom and kitchen floors are notorious for wear and damage. Plus, these two rooms are the most at risk of becoming outdated. Grubby vinyl in a bathroom or yellowed laminate in a kitchen does not hold a lot of value.
The Cost
You have established that there is value in providing certain rooms with new flooring. However, you have to weigh the value of new floors against the cost of flooring. Because you are preparing to sell, you need to ensure that you will not lose the money you put into any home improvements you complete before the sale. A big part of seeing a return on your investment is selecting floors that buyers want in their house.
What Floors Are Home Buyers Looking For?
Tile and carpet cannot be ruled out as an option for different spaces, but one of the main factors that home buyers look for in flooring is a durable, hard surface. Think about the popular styles you would want in your home. Potential buyers are probably very similar to you on that front. While hardwood is the most desired flooring option, consider more affordable selections like engineered or laminate flooring to increase property value.
Hardwood Flooring
You can guarantee the highest return on investment with hardwood flooring. Homebuyers are willing to pay the additional price for high-quality, premium flooring like hardwood timber.
If you are looking to replace a good portion of your home’s flooring, weigh the cost of that project against the predicted increase in resale value. Some experts believe that a proper hardwood installation can raise the resale value by almost 3%. However, hardwood prices range anywhere from $85 to $120 per square metre. Any home will benefit from hardwood floors, but the biggest difference in resale value will be made in a higher-end home with an already high property value.
Check out the Wonderful Floor collection at the Online Flooring Store if you want an easy, pre-finished solid timber option. You can quickly update rooms and get them ready for an open house.
Engineered Flooring
Hardwood flooring incurs a lot of costs for supply, installation, and maintenance. If you are looking for the same real timber appearance without the price, engineered timber is an ideal option. Many engineered timber floors can be installed with a quick and efficient floating floor method without compromising on stability and durability. The top layer is a beautiful and authentic timber veneer.
Engineered timber floors might be the direction for your home if you have a lower starting property value. Hardwood flooring will not impact your resale value as much, which means your return on investment could be negligible. A cheaper option with the same lovely look of timber is appealing for homey buyers and sellers.
With costs between $60 and $100 per square metre, engineered timber is a good middle ground between true hardwood timber and more synthetic flooring options, like vinyl or laminate. You still need to consider the total cost of the project compared to your final sale. However, the authentic appearance can almost guarantee a rise in home value.
The Online Flooring Store has several excellent engineered timber ranges available. The Australian Select Timbers Grand Oak Chevron Collection is a sophisticated option with an authentic matte finish.
Expert Insights From Raquel Billett
Interior Décor Expert
Concerning the resale value of a property, solid and engineered timber flooring holds its value and can increase the overall home value compared to other flooring types. However, there are things to consider. Suppose timber flooring is in poor condition due to water or wear and tear. This can affect the value added to a home dramatically.
In many cases, top-quality Hybrid flooring such as Resiplank may be more suitable because of its realistic appearance, price point, low maintenance, and ability to endure wear and tear and still look fresh for resale after many years. Recently I spoke to a customer who was aware of the excellent resale value of timber flooring but was concerned because they have young children and pets. So I showed them some top-quality hybrid options as a great alternative, and they were astonished at just how realistic it looked.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate is a hard flooring surface that provides durability and reliability for years in a house. Homebuyers want to see well-maintained, consistent flooring in a home before making an offer. Although laminate is not as luxurious as hardwood or engineered timber, you can choose from several high-quality brands to outfit your home handsomely.
Costs for laminate flooring range from $20 to $50 per square metre. Factors like brand, colour, and thickness separate the cheapest varieties from the more premium planks. Consider the characteristics of a laminate flooring brand from the perspective of a buyer. As you pick one to replace the floors in your home, imagine the qualities that would appeal to you the most. Long-lasting durability and realistic designs are vital. Look for a brand that protects against dents, scratches, and cuts.
Smaller homes and apartments are some of the best places suited to laminate flooring. Potential buyers will probably be focused on the overall durability of the flooring as opposed to luxury brands, especially if the property value is lower. However, brand-new laminate floors can help ensure a successful sale of your home at the price you want.
Essential Flooring Tips to Increase Value
Beyond choosing the right flooring type, there are three areas where you need to be careful with your choices.
Some of these mistakes can negatively impact the value of your home instead of increasing it:
1. Choose Timber Flooring Before Carpet
There are many more advanced carpet options on the market than in years past. However, when in doubt, you should select a timber flooring style. Beyond bedrooms, consider choosing an allergen-free, easy-to-clean timber plank over a roll of carpet. Even engineered timber, vinyl, or laminate floors with timber designs offer more value in a living space, kitchen, or hallway compared to carpet.
2. Do Not Mix and Match Flooring Styles
Mixing and matching is easy way to confuse a potential buyer. Where possible, try to provide one style of flooring consistently throughout a house. It can be off-putting to walk on a hardwood surface in a hallway and then step into vinyl in a different colour. Strive for smooth flooring transitions as much as possible, and you will see an increase in your home value.
The only spaces where consistency is not very important is spaces that require more waterproof or water-resistant flooring. Bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchens will do better with waterproof vinyl or laminate, even if the rest of your home is outfitted with hardwood timber.
3. Repair and Refinish When Possible
All things considered, when it comes to replacing old and outdated flooring, you should also remember the importance of a proper inspection. You probably do not have an unlimited budget to replace flooring before putting your house up for sale. Depending on the age of your home and when you last assessed your flooring, you might be able to get away with repairing or refinishing some of your home surfaces. Do not replace flooring just so that you can tell potential buyers that the home has all-new floors.
Make a checklist in the different rooms. Ask yourself whether the flooring planks are in decent condition. Are there signs of scratching, buckling, warping, or discolouration? Which will impact the selling value of your home more – repairs or replacements? You should also consider the extent of damage, and whether you would be able to get your hands on replacement planks. Vinyl, laminate, and hybrid floorboards cannot be repaired, but you can potentially replace several boards instead of the entire room.
Or if you are lucky enough to have engineered timber floors or solid hardwood floors, you can try your hand a refinishing them. Both of these flooring types allow you to sand them down, which will fix unsightly blemishes without wasting the beautiful, high-quality flooring materials. It is a better investment in your home to refinish hardwood than it would be to replace them with lower-quality flooring material.
Is It Worth it to Use Flooring to Increase Property Value?
Potential home buyers will look at the flooring in your house, whether you have replaced it or not. Based on current trends, flooring is a major factor when it comes to people’s ultimate decision to make an offer on a property. And when it comes down to old, outdated flooring or new, fresh flooring, you will see better results with any new flooring. While choosing a decent hardwood timber flooring would be the best option, any update can be a welcome change for a home about to be put on the market.
