Are you planning to get more than one estimate? How are the original floors? Some people prefer hardwood to carpet because of allergies, etc. Other people like large area rugs on hardwood/tile or prefer to be able to select their own carpet. I do anyway.

Perhaps you might want to go look at a couple of open houses or a builders model and see what they have. Ask the salesperson what carpet options are being offered. Get prices for standard as well as upgraded. This will give you a better idea of what the going rates are, as well as what is popular in your area.

Some people offer a carpet allowance, giving so much $$ back at closing.

Sooey, That is a fair price for replacement carpet, depending on the quality of the carpet and the pad. If your supplier is pricing fairly, this is a range that will get you carpeting that is better than is often used in builder's spec homes. You are very smart to get this done prior to going on the market, as there are few bigger turnoffs to buyers than worn, spotted, wrinkled or strong-colored, non-neutral carpet.

Thank you, annainpa,

I'm happy to hear that. I had no idea what to expect when I went down to the store. My first impression was...yikes... But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that $26.00 a sq yard would be OK. The owner was very up front about the quality of it...it is not the best but it is what will show well and have a good feel under foot. The buyers will ask about it. When they do it is best to be honest and let them know what the expected life span is. This carpet would be about a 10 year carpet. Not bad and it could be a good selling point.

So, thanks annainpa. I feel better about it. Thanks for responding to my question.

Sooey

That price sounds fair to me too. When we sold last year, we replaced the carpeting with something similar to what it sounds like you are getting. We did upgrade the padding which wasn't that much more, but it seemed to make the carpet a little more "plush." Nobody asked about the carpet--they just knew it was new.

Good luck with your sale!

I know very little on carpetting. But on one of those do it urself shows. 1 point was that go for a better quality padding, which wil make the carpet feel liek it is a high quality carpet if it isnt!!

When you say "the store", do you mean home depot or lowes? Their prices are typically 2 to 3 times specialized contractors prices on everything. Log on to service magic and get them to come give you estimates.
I'm one of those people that have problems with carpet dust bunnies and have found high end short pile berber and equivalents to have no allergy problems. And I agree, do the carpet before showing!

If I were a buyer, I'd rather have a carpet allowance from the seller rather than "pay" for the seller's taste in carpet. If your carpet is so bad that the house won't show well without replacement, make sure you carpet (paint, decorate, etc.) with nuetral colors. This appeals to the widest audience.

Good luck,

Kevin

but there are plenty of buyers who would just rather not have to worry about the carpet right after they move in.

And as long as the carpet was "fine," you'd probably be OK w/ the new, especially since the seller's not giving you a CHIOCE!

I figure the seller isn't going to make you pay EXTRA for that carpet; they're just going to preserve the value of the home. Your price won't be higher than surrounding homes because of the carpet; it's just that you won't get a price break over the carpet.

We installed new carpet before we listed our house. We had it installed in the living room, 3 bedrooms and the stairs and hallway. We didn't put the best in, but we did get the padding (6lb) thrown in for free. We do have hardwood floors in the house, but we didn't want to refinish them.

Dave, just curious, but why did you decide not refinish the hardwoods? I was pretty surprised at how cheaply it can be done. We redid the whole house this summer for about $3000.

On topic: sooey, that quote sounds very reasonable to me. $26 a square yard works out to be just a little under $3 a square foot, correct? Unless my math is wrong, that really is a bargain price. I had new carpet installed in our den this year and went with one of the most affordable options our carpet store offered. It was about $6 a square foot installed.

sully, it was a timing thing. We wanted to get it on the market asap, so we went with carpet.

From another thread on this forum:
"What was your strangest contingency?"
Posted by bonelady

My good friend has her $1M house for sale. She recently spent several thousand dollars replacing her expensive carpet with beautiful cherry flooring in the entire 4,000 sf home. Her first offer came in last week, with the contingency that she carpet the house with $95 sq yard carpet of their choosing !

It sounds like $26.00 per sq yard, pad, install, tax included is a pretty good deal.

dave in jersey wrote: it was a timing thing. We wanted to get it on the market asap, so we went with carpet.

Dave--

We just had our hardwood floors redone and it was less than a three day process. They sanded the first day, applied the stain and one coat of poly, let that dry overnight and then applied another coat the next day. By the evening of the third day it was all done and could be walked on again.

Of course we only had hardwood in the entry, family room and kitchen (~750 sq feet), so naturally a bigger area would probably take longer. (It was still almost $3,000.)

The mess from the dust was awful (SO GLAD I'm not living in that house) but the floors look amazing....

Hi Gang,

Thanks for all of your input. It sounds like the $26. a sq yard is a good deal. I will go as nuteral as I can and I'm sure it will look great.

quirky...'the store' is our local paint and decorating store. Ours is a small town with no Lowes and no Home Depot.

So, thanks Gang. I'm starting to feel like we are getting close to having that 'For sale' sign planted in front of our house...gulp...

Sooey

Dave, gotcha. The sanding does make a mess and we had to wait several days for the product to cure before we could move the furniture back in. I just wish I had known how cheaply it can be done because we put off doing it at our first home, thinking it would be too expensive.

As for whether its a good deal depends. There is a lot of cheap carpet out there. I think the nylon or wool carpet is supposed to last longer and not have problems like discoloration.

I think flooring allowances are nice but the reason I say do the new carpet first is if there are stains and wear patterns that really makes the house look used.

It's definitely good to replace the carpet as long as it is neutral and (most important!) doesn't LOOK really cheap. When we were looking at houses a few months ago, one of the listings boasted "fresh paint and new carpet!" Well, when we walked through the house, the carpet was neutral and certainly new, but it was just one step up from office park quality, and it looked and felt terrible. The fresh paint turned out to be a sloppy paint job in builder white. I don't know what it looked like before, but from my viewpoint, a credit would have been much better.