WWYD re: new flooring in a rental

[beanieweanie]

We own a condo that we rent out. We bought it to live in 6 years ago and as of right now, we've lost 65K on it. We couldn't sell it so we rented it out, and it just about breaks even each month.

The carpet really needs replacing. It was worn anyway, but the tenant has destroyed it. I went up there today and got quotes for new carpet and/or laminate. All new carpet = $2700; replacing main area (the worst bit) with laminate and switching carpet in the bedrooms = $4200. We could keep crappy carpet in the bedrooms and just do laminate in the LR/DR - that would be somewhere in between (maybe $3500?).

We plan to sell it as soon as we can but it'll likely be another couple of years. What would you do?

FWIW, it's about 1000 sq ft of flooring to replace altogether. We couldn't install ourselves, but I might be up for removing the old carpet - not sure how hard that is?

[minniebee]

Hmmm. That's a tough one, and I understand where you're coming from since I also own a condo (my former home) that is now a rental. I'm also about $60K underwater.

How long do you plan to keep the condo? It seems like carpet has to be replaced fairly often in rentals, so if you're going to keep it for more than 3-4 years, I would invest in the laminate. It seems like laminate would last longer and wear better. Yes, it's cheaper right now to do all carpet, but if you have to replace with another 1000 sq ft of new carpet again in 3-4 years, you're in for $5400 (or more) because you had to do it twice.

How bad is the bedroom carpet? Would a professional cleaning make it last another year or two? If so, I would probably do laminate in the living areas & hallways (high traffic areas) and keep the bedroom carpet for now.

If the bedrooms are pretty bad too, I'd do laminate in the living areas/hallways and new carpet in the bedrooms.

I know the real estate market is coming back slowly, which is good news. However, in many markets (including the one my condo is located in), the market for townhouses and condos is not bouncing back like it is for single family homes. Sadly, we're probably in for the long haul. When we started renting our condo in 2009, we figured we might keep it for 5 years, then sell. Now it looks like we're in for probably 8-10 years before it would be worth trying to sell. In any case, maybe you could consult with a realtor in your area about what the condo market looks like, and try to judge how long you'll keep the place before trying to sell it? If you really think you can sell the place in 3-4 years, you could go the cheap route with the flooring and get all carpet.

[tarheels]

Put in cheap carpet throughout. If possible, raise the deposit on the next tenants. Make sure they know it's brand new. Leases around here say that carpet has a 7 year life span and that wear and tear not in line with that timeline will be charged to the tenant.

[sierramist03]

I'd probably do carpet

[SusanBAnthony]

Our rental has laminate. It had some wear and tear when we moved in, and is much worse now in the kitchen. The dining room is fine, but the kitchen is really bad. It looks lie you wouldn't be doing the kitchen anyway, but if you are considering it, don't! Anytime water is dripped, or an ice cube is dropped and melts, etc, it warps up the boards.

I think I would do carpet everywhere, because laminate just isn't durable. I don't think you will get 14 years out of laminate in a rental. Unless you are in a competitive rental market, in which case "wood" floors might give you an edge.

[littlemisssunshine]

As a property manager I always recommend laminate over carpet. Carpet rarely lasts longer than 3 years with tenants, and usually just isn't worth it. Even if you hold a whole security deposit for carpet, it won't begin to cover the cost of replacement for the whole house or even just the living areas. Laminate will last at least 5-6 years which might be enough to get you til you can sell.

If you want to save some money I'd do laminate in the living areas and carpet in the bedrooms which should get less wear. Tearing up carpet is ridiculously easy, although dirty. Grab it at the corner and just start pulling. You'll need to use a utility knife to cut the carpet in manageable strips that you can roll up. Padding is glued down and can be easily pulled up as well. Use a putty knife to scrape up the clumps of glue/padding that is stuck to the floor.

Another idea is doing all tile. I live in Florida so it's practical for us and almost indestructible. Don't know if that's an option for you.

[aimeedyan]

Man, that's a tough situation.

I think carpet is so easily stained/worn that I'd be tempted to just chunk the extra money towards laminate. At least in living spaces that are used more often. To save money, I'd rip it all out myself (not difficult) so you're just paying for install.

[mrspez07]

Check your Regulation docs too. In our condo, because someone lives below us, we can only replace carpeted areas with carpet. Any type of hard flooring, even with a superb pad requires approval or review and is strongly discouraged. In our situation, unfortunately, that includes carpet in the dining room directly adjacent to the kitchen and the dishwasher on the end of the galley kitchen.

[jena]

Laminate... We've had 3 completely unrelated water incidents in the last 2 years and killed laminate 3x. And had another close call where water got under it but I managed to save it. And we own the house. Is ceramic tile an option?

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using proboards