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Health & Fitness

4 Reasons to Replace your Carpet Instead of Offering an Allowance

New carpet and flooring quickly establishes how well your home is taken care of in the buyer's mind.

As a Real Estate agent specializing in Listing South of the River Homes for Sale, I hear this question many times per month.  “Should I do a carpet allowance to sell my Shakopee home?” “Do I really need to put carpet in my Burnsville home to sell it?” “How important is it to replace my vinyl flooring if I want to sell my Lakeville home fast?”  “Is it necessary to replace my Kitchen Flooring before selling my Savage Home?”

“I don’t want to put new carpet in my Apple Valley house for sale because the buyer might not like it and will want a different color.”

I am not a fan of offering a carpet allowance, appliance allowance or really any other allowance regarding the condition of the home. (Certainly there are times when an allowance is the best option, based on your situation.)

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I believe it’s always a good idea to replace worn, damaged or dirty carpet rather than try to negotiate it in a purchase agreement. There are a few reasons for this opinion.

1) Offering an allowance before a buyer has even seen your home is like waving a big white sign saying, “We’re pretty worried about how our carpet will affect the sale of our home, it’s one of our weakspots!” Buyers understand you are vulnerable and apologetic about the condition of your flooring. Plus buyers and agents might assume that if the carpet is in poor condition, the rest of house will be in poor condition too.

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2) Buyers will expect a much higher allowance than the actual cost of replacement. With careful shopping you may be able to have the carpet installed for $3000 while a buyer will ask for $5000 in an allowance. Buyers will shop the high end market because, after all, they are spending someone else’s money.

3) New carpet and flooring quickly establishes how well your home is taken care of in the buyer’s mind. A carpet allowance will not bring that ‘new home smell’ into your home, but new carpeting will, making the house feel so much newer.

4) Moving all furniture to install new carpet is the best form of decluttering known to real estate agents! I know it’s a big job and requires lots of planning and logistics. Clearing every single thing out of a room is the perfect way to pack, move to storage, donate, recycle, re-purpose or dispose of all the small items.  You will clear the bookshelves, pick up the closet floor, clean out under beds, pack the china cabinet and much more. Read the post, 5 Ways to update your home on a Budget for more declutter tips.

There are several great places to call for carpet and flooring bids. The ‘big box’ stores offer carpet installation and there are several independent flooring retailers in the South of the River area.

One place to explore is Trade Direct in Burnsville, a local wholesale flooring company offering great prices to tradespeople. Ask your installer if they are a member or give me a call gain access to shop there.

You can also give them a call to learn more about their programs at 612-287-1788, ask for Jason, he’ll be happy to help you.

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