About to Sell House and Need to Recarpet

I would put a nice neutral carpet in. I have a personal friend with Carpet Direct. His name is Brian Mulvehill at ###-###-####. He gas done several projects at our home and his carpet is a better quality and better pad at about 1/2 the cost of home depot or other carpet places. He cones to your house with samples. He also does wood, laminate, or tile. No cost to look or to get a quote. Now he is from Boston so you will need to excuse his accent but he is a genuine pleasure to work with and the cost is cheap!

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Wow, am I surprised to hear what your real estate agent said!! In the past, Berber brand carpeting was always an expensive upgrade -- and definitely a preferred carpet. I have Berber in one room and find it much easier to spot clean than the traditional carpeting in the rest of the house. However, Berber is traditionally used in a family room, den, library, study, bonus room, or any other type of common, but casual, room. Never in a bedroom or formal room (living room, dining room, etc.). Other than that, Berber would not deter my buying decision.

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There's really 2 kinds of berber. Cheap public building/school house berber (ugh)... and gorgeous thick pile berber. Obviously, one is very cheap and one is very expensive.

I tend to love creamy wool berber... but even the expensive type is offputting to many, since they don't know how to care for it... and the last thing you want a prospective buyer to be is intimidated.

I'm with your agent, however... LOOKS sell. And if you have carpet that needs replacing (stains, holes, smell, etc.) it will lower the value & desireablility of your house 10 fold. Meanwhile that beautiful clean line of new carpet, combo'd with fresh paint... just SELLS. People see a blank canvas, and start arranging their furniture in their heads.

It's baffling to me... but I buy OLD houses. Fixer'upper / Major Restore type houses. I see what a house COULD be. Most people though, don't want to even think work. They want move-in-ready, and finis.

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We have a house that is part Berber and part part regular carpet. I hate the Berber and would never have/buy a house with it again. It wears fast and stains easy. We have a cat that snagged his nail on it and it pulled a line of carpet up the whole width of the room. Just my 2 cents :-)

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Hi C.,

My husband and I have bought and sold many houses. Berber does not sell well. We put it in our rental houses because it is so cheap to buy and we can replace it with the next tenant. You don't need to buy the highest quality carpet. A medium grade is okay but spend a little extra and get a good carpet pad. You can feel the difference when you walk on it and it will also extend the life of the carpet. Buyers notice what they walk on. Keep your color neutral.

Hope this helps.

M.

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berber is a love hate carpet...where are you putting the new carpet? if its on the main level like living room etc, you may want to consider some type of hardwood........if its in the bedrooms then go with regular carpet............if you trust your agent then go with their advice as good agents know the areas best..... giving a carpet allowance is great BUT some people cant look past bad carpet & may pass up your home because of it, just like some people cant look past bad paint colors....good luck selling your home

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I agree with the carpet allowance. I would not call Berber carpet a dealbreaker but if I had to chose between two houses and the deciding factor was Berber or no Berber, I would pick the one without. If it gets a snag in it, it can run on for the length of the carpet.

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I tried to clean berber with a home steam cleaner and it was wet forever. I clean carpets regularly because we have pets. I would steer clear if I had the option from a house with berber.

What about putting a carpet allowance in the offer. Then the buyer could buy whatever carpet they wanted.

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I might consider not replacing the carpet but putting in the listing that you would let them pick or there was a carpet allowance. We have bought several homes and often we looked at some that we liked but had new carpet or paint we hated- if we would have had the chance to choose we might have bought that house.

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I wouldn't want berber. It would be a major turn off for me. I guess that was your agents point -- it looks like it's either love or hate for some people. The allowance is a good idea, but if your current carpet is so bad that it may run potential buyers off (very stained, dark, distracting, urine smells, smoke, etc) you really should change it.

Home Depot had some deals for a 99$ install no matter how large the area, a while ago. I used Carpet Mill Outlet in Southlake and I was very happy with their selection.. we had some tile done with them as well and the tile guy was fabulous.

Good luck.

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I have mixed feelings about new carpet, I would rather have a flooring allowance so I can pick my own. My friend put all new carpet in her 2 story house and it was what the agent picked out. She also told them to paint the house the most awful colors. It had been darker greens int he kitchen and neutrals in the rest of the house. The new paint was rust colored and she had them paint it in the LR, the kitchen, and the dining room. I would not have even considered that house. The carpet was "neutral" but it was very disgusting. When you sell your house neutral is very good. But to me neutral is beige, tan, cream, greys, off whites, whites, light cocoa's, etc....not rust and brown.

To me Berber looks like it belongs in a business setting. It is industrial looking to me. But if you found a really pretty one maybe she would reconsider. I know the market is down now but aren't wood floors all the rage and most desired flooring at this time?

If I was to buy your house, a great selling point would be new hardwood floors and fresh paint.

I would think about offering a carpet allowance instead. I think most buyers replace carpeting anyway so why waste the money & go to the effort? Let them pick their carpet!

For the best results, I would replace the carpet with an inexpensive plush or texture carpet that coordinates very well with your paint and furnishings. Make sure the base color is the same, ie yellow, gray, etc. You may want to spend a little more if the home is more on the expensive end.
"Berber" carpet, or a loop that you are referring to, will show seams and may not lay out correctly in your rooms depending on the sizes. It is also a carpet that can easily be ruined when snagged and a whole row of carpet gets pulled out, which is why it turns off buyers. It does not tend to mat down easily, but you don't want this carpet with kids or pets. You can go with a freize carpet which is a longer cut loop carpet that will hide the seams and the multi color fleck goes with most anything.
Talk to Bryan at ProSource on 121. You can use my name to get in and even make a purchase at a great discount. Good luck!
T. Wolfe
for Interior Design Solutions

Why not berber? We like the look and feel of berber carpet. I don't think it shows traffic patterns as much as other types. However it is usually more expensive.

Personally I don't like berber. So, new berber carpet would not be a selling point since I would be thinking "I'm going to want to replace this carpet". Berber carpet is a fad and it is fading.

I REALLY do not like Berber. I wouldn't automatically walk out... but unless I really liked the house otherwise, I wouldn't bid. And my bid would be reflecting my having to replace all the carpets.

Things get stuck in them. They have a matted-down feeling even right after vacuuming. They feel industrial.

JMHO.

Could you perhaps go one step further and provide a carpet and/or flooring allowance? Seems like many people prefer wood or wood like flooring over carpet. I must say that at 58 yrs old and killing myself over the years to keep carpet clean due to kids, cats, dogs, I am wondering why I ever bothered to work at keeping carpet clean. It is never clean, it is always dirty even if you have just had it cleaned. I think now I would limit carpet to bedrooms with no food or drinks allowed. The traffic areas would be an easily cleanable, tough as nails surface whatever that might be. Also allergies seem to be on the rise along with asthma. I'd be so flipping happy to have new fresh floor/floor coverings, my choice, as the buyer, I'd snap that house up ASAP.

I too would NOT replace it and allow for an allowance with it. If the people know going in they will have the funds to replace it then they will overlook it and that way if they wanted to do woods they wouldn't have to rip out perfectly good brand new carpet to do it. You need to have someone do an estimate on redoing it all in carpet and then make the allowance for that amount. If people wanted to do woods then they would just have to pay the extra amount. Good luck selling and with whatever you decide!

I personaly LOVED the berber shag style in my last house. It was up-to date and not old style at all. It did have the different colors and hid stains very well. Lived there for 2 yrs and it still looked new when we left. I think its 50/50 on ppl who like harwood versus carpet. I dont mind hardwoods,I like the look. My husband HATES hardwoods. Doesnt like the coldness of them in his words.

Most buyers now a days would rather see hard wood or a nice wood laminate insead of carpet

Well, my guess is that she's speaking from experience. She's been with people that are looking and heard what they are saying about what they want. Hopefully she's aware of what your comparable houses are and what people will expect from a home in your neighborhood. I personally wouldn't NOT buy a house because it had berber, but I would probably have that on my list of things to change, and if you are spending money to put in new carpet, you don't want people to still think it has to be changed. Get an inexpensive plush or that shag type that has multi color strands that are more current and more appropriate for a home.

we are looking at replacing the carpet in our house. We are going to put laminate hardwoods in the downstairs main living area. In the upstairs/bedrooms we are replacing the cheap builder carpet and putting in a nice thick pad ( a must for me!) and a long soft neutral carpet. The carpet we have now is way too light. It shows everything! when you are picking out carpet I would try to go with a not too light, not too dark beige. Like a tan color. I am also going to pick one with some non distinct speckles. Not something ugly but something that will hid all the traffic marks. I wouldn't like berber. I like a softer carpet.

I would not get berber, many people do not like berbr because it is flat. I would go with a medium grade of regular carpet. As another realtor, I often see people turned off because of berber.

I see you have pretty much already made up your mind, but here's my 2 cents anyways. I have rental properties so I try to appeal to everyone because my tenants obviously aren't going to be replacing the flooring. I choose to go with frieze carpeting. I go with a light nuetral color with multi-color specs. I even have the same thing in my own place now. It matches everything and hides dirt well.

I like berber, but you might just follow your agent's advice, he/she should know the area. It could be a deal breaker for me to see yucky carpet, especially if there are orders in them, so I would go ahead and replace. I try to look past things like that, but it is hard to do sometimes! That is just me.

M.

Berber is out of style and most people do not care for it any more.