Don't pay them to tear out your carpet. Offer it for free on freecycle.com and tell them they need to tear it out. We've done that multiple times and got plenty of volunteers. You could potentially do that with the hardwood as well. If not, you could do all the demo without too much trouble and save a bundle.

Decided to go with a diagonal pattern since herringbone was not possible with the different lengths. However this is easier and I didn't have to do any cutting of the tongue to fit like I would have had to do for the herringbone. Now that I've gotten most of the longer planks in place, the ones around the perimeter is where I will use the varying lengths. Thankfully all of the widths are the same (6 in) and I will have to choose between 1, 3, and 4 foot planks. I may alternate the three to get the best look since I already have zigzags, maybe I should randomly stagger the perimeter. I'm excited to see how's gonna turn out. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

luvbeautifulthings: I live in SoCal, where houses cost what yours cost. I have stated before in these forums that I do see LVP in my area. But we live in a suburban area of large families, SAH moms, pets--that kind of neighborhood. It's not West L.A., if you know what I mean. I agree it's important what realtors tell you about the local market. In your case, "floating" the floor on top is going to mean a couple of things you might not like; such as having to cut the door molding around every door casing. Removing and re-installing the baseboards. Will your doors still shut or do those have to be cut down too? How will the new floors transition to the kitchen? (Ugly transition strips?) Or are you taking LVP right into the kitchen...in which case you're going to (maybe) be fencing in your appliances (How will you now slide your dishwasher out?). The other thing is this: as you search for your awesome LVP, that looks realistic, that's good to excellent quality, you're going to find you're almost spending as much as engineered wood. And as we both know, the cost of installation in SoCal is high--- product cost isn't going to vary all that much unless you go really bottom basement (but I have a feeling you won't). Near me, installation was $5-6/sf and that was 5 years ago (or so). It's probably higher now. The cost of glue for my downstairs (which is large) was $2,000. Not a budget breaker in the scheme of things.... so given the choice, glue down engineered works better where we live (we are on slab). Either way, you'll have to redo your baseboards. Price it out. I'd demo that floor and not think twice. I'd get the floor you want and do it right the first time. Glue it down.

If you still like the floor and it's feasible to reuse, then go for it. I wouldn't worry about resale value unless you are flipping the house. It's more likely that a trendy choice would be dated and your "classic" choice would be viewed as retro, vintage and cool again. I just finished my remodel and went with a very untrendy relatively narrow oak floor in a natural stain (or natural un-stain). It's not the trendy wider planks but it was replacing similar flooring that I liked and the flooring is the same style of flooring as that which is in older homes which still have their original wood floors. In terms of moderately priced engineered wood. My engineered wood floors are "moderate" as they were $8.00 per square foot and they are Canadian and use green methods both in terms of forestry and construction. Mine are Mirage but I believe Lauzon is another Canadian company which also has engineered floors in that moderate price point which is similarly green. When I was researching flooring, there also seem to be some American companies but I was fine with Mirage as I didn't have particularly esoteric design needs as I just wanted classic wood floors in a lighter color without excess movement or knots. I opted for their more expensive floors which used higher quality "less busy" oak.