When you purchase a rental home with carpet already installed, it may have a great surprise hidden inside. There are homes with carpets that have a beautiful hardwood floor underneath them. The question now becomes: Should you remove the carpet or keep it? For some property owners, carpeted floors would be the way to go— it would be the most economical and efficient choice for them. However, for others, revealing those hardwood floors may be the very thing they need to do to get much higher rental income and better tenants. So, do not rush to a decision. Instead, study the pros and cons of exposing your rental property’s hardwood floors.
When choosing between carpet and hardwood flooring in your Orlando rental property, you should keep these things in mind. Hardwood floors can be an attractive feature in a rental home. They possess beauty and durability that few carpets can match. Even so, hardwood may not be the best option to go with. Not all rental homes would gain from it. You will need to consider the type of tenant you have, the resale value of the property, the neighborhood, and the cost of preparing and maintaining each flooring type. These things need to be determined before choosing to permanently remove your rental’s carpeting.
Not all tenants would look at an upgrade of a hardwood floor the same way. They may not share the same view on the matter. There are many tenants who are conscientious and may appreciate the beauty of a hardwood floor, and willing to take on the responsibility to keep the floor clean and dry. However, there are also tenants that may only damage the floor, making it look ugly. For instance, if they own pets and heavy furniture, they can easily scratch or gouge a wood floor. Some tenants may prefer hardwood floors for more than aesthetic beauty. For allergy sufferers, a hard floor surface is easier to keep free of dust than carpet. But if that tenant doesn’t know how to properly care for hardwood, they could easily damage it with harsh cleaning products or hard scrubbing.
Beyond appearance, rental property owners should make the property’s current and future value the starting point of their flooring choices. Because value is often influenced by a property’s location and nearby homes, it would be good to know if the other homes in the neighborhood feature hardwood or carpet floors. If most of the homes in the area have carpet, then, maybe, you should think twice before removing yours. On the other hand, if the neighborhood is developing and undergoing a renewal, by offering an upgrade like a hardwood floor may be what your rental house needs to stand out from the rest.
Finally, count the costs before you decide to permanently remove your rental home’s carpet. While you may save on the cost of replacing the carpet every five years, you will have to deal with the additional expenses of removing the carpet and preparing the floor for your tenant. For one, modern hardwood finishes are more durable when compared to the older ones, but chances are that the floor under your rental’s carpet is not exactly new.
Lurking beneath a layer of carpet for years didn’t do the hardwood much good, either. So, exposing a hardwood floor means that it would require refinishing, and then regular maintenance after that to make sure its condition doesn’t degrade. There are costs involved in all these steps, and having a clear idea about how much this would cost you can help you make a more informed decision.
After careful consideration and with good information, you would be able to weigh if exposing your rental property’s hardwood floors makes sense for your rental home.
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