Seller's Center > Home Preparation > Carpet, Paint & Linoleum

Carpet, Paint & Linoleum - Cosmetic Improvements that Make Money!

There Better Be an Emotional Payoff

Carpet, Paint & Linoleum is just a category that has a high return on investment. What we look for is any cosmetic improvement that provides the HIGHEST immediate overall emotional improvement for the LEAST money spent.

Cosmetic Improvements

Flooring

Carpet

The carpet that we suggest is most often a base apartment grade carpet. Something usually around $13 per square yard. There is usually no need to go with $30 or $40 a square yard carpet. There have only been a few instances when we have selected a higher grade carpet. We rarely suggest more expensive carpet, but will in the following situations:

There is a need to maintain a consistent style with the rest of the home. The base grade carpet would look out of place.
When quality carpet can be a focal point that accentuates the character of the home, and the amount of sq ft. required is minimal.
The home is lacking in the upgrade department and this one item will be where you may try to make an impact & the amount of sq ft. required is minimal.

You should select a carpet that is a medium light in color and a similar hue to the overall color scheme of the home.

Hardwood Floors - Should you refinish your hardwood floors instead of carpet?

Many homes in Southern California already have beautiful hardwood floors.

Pros: Refinishing hardwood floors is as cheap as base grade carpet, yet it adds a certainly luxury that cheap carpet can't. Perceived value is enhanced, without spending any additional money. Buyers that like hardwood floors, REALLY like hardwood floors.

Cons: Buyers that don't like hardwood floors, don't like them because they are cold on their bare feet in the bedroom.

Solution: For maximum appeal, the formula that we have developed that yields the greatest appeal to the widest range of buyers is hardwood flooring in the living spaces and traffic areas, and carpet in the bedrooms. The one exception might be a California Bungalow, where hardwood flooring throughout feels more appropriate. I don't think they had wall-wall carpet in the 1920's.

Finish: Our general recommendation is to finish the floors with 3 coats, in a natural color (no stain) semi-gloss. Gloss is too reflective and looks like a gym floor, while flat looks unfinished and lacks pizzazz. Stain is rarely needed.

Dog pee stains and wood damage: For the most part, damaged sections can be easily repaired where no one would ever know for not much money. Only when floors have been refinished numerous times already and nails are showing can the floors not be salvaged.

New versus Refinishing: Brand new hardwood flooring can be quite expensive, so if they can't be refinished then we rarely install new ones. Of course rules of thumb are made to be broken. We recently installed hardwood in a small 1920's California Bungalow, where nails were exposed. We did this because the space was small and hardwood flooring was very appropriate to the style of home. We also installed hardwood flooring in a upper end town home that sided a golf course. We did this because again the space was small, we only did the downstairs living areas, and this was the one "Luxury" item we did.

Consistency is Important: There have been times when we chose to carpet over hardwood floors in a living room that had an addition. If the addition is a step down family room and there is a physical break between the rooms, no problem. But what if the addition is on the same level and the rooms with the addition is contiguous. Then it looks odd to have one section that is refinished hardwood and one section that is carpeted. The goal should be a unifying consistent look, not patchwork.

Linoleum or Ceramic Tile

In almost all instances we suggest linoleum because it is cheaper and more time efficient. There is nothing wrong with ceramic tile or stone flooring. Linoleum solves the problem with little time and effort.

Keep Hue Consistent: Use a similar hue with the walls. If the walls are a gray hue, use a linoleum with a gray hue etc.

Use Similar Scale: If you have a big kitchen, use a larger scale pattern, if it is a smaller bathroom, use a smaller scale pattern.

Cost: Most kitchens can be done for less than $700 and bathrooms can be done for less than $300.

Baseboards: I just hate the 4" vinyl baseboards that most companies install after they lay the vinyl. While it looks ok in a laundry room, we suggest installing paintable baseboards.

Paint

Interior Color

Start with your larger fixed items: Is there a brick fireplace? Are there hardwood floors with a particular hue or stain. Are there kitchen cabinets or countertops with a particular color. Is there something fixed and unchangeable that dictates your starting palate? If this is the case, this should be a starting point for your main wall color. We suggest you buy a Dunn Edwards Fan Deck. This way you can quickly look over all of the color choices that may go with your fixed elements. Why Dunn Edwards? Because most painters use Dunn Edwards. This way you will be talking the same language.

General Suggestions: We usually choose a color for the walls it might be a light tan, sandstone, or muted yellow. Some of our recent color choices have been. Dunn Edwards DE757 Rincon cove (taupe), Stevereno (Taupe - darker) and Oatmeal Cookie (yellow hue). Then 99% of the time we will paint the trim and ceilings a bright white (Dunn Edwards - Swiss Coffee). Having contrast between the walls and trim & woodwork allows these item to pop out and gives character.

Built in Cabinetry in Hallway or Built in Bookshelves: Most of the time these are painted white, unless they are beautiful natural wood.

Bathrooms Colors: Here we sometimes have some variation, because bathrooms the tile may provide a distinctly different fixed palette. Then the wall color will be something that matches and compliments the existing tile. If the cabinets are worn we usually paint them white.

Kitchens Colors: Kitchens usually have less of an existing "fixed" color scheme. If there is, then we try to work with that. However, more often than not, we paint the kitchen walls the same color as the rest of the house. If the kitchen cabinets are worn out, then painting them might be the solution for a hip and contemporary look. Certainly, if the kitchen cabinets are nice wood from a recent remodel, then we will leave them alone. Maybe just a fresh coat of varnish. When we have painted kitchen cabinets, other than while, we usually choose a darker and rich color. Maybe a dark blue, or a cocoa brown. This can turn old ugly wood kitchen cabinets into a hip designer statement.

Wallpaper, Paneling & Popcorn (acoustic ceilings)

In most instances each of these items should be removed. I know you think it is going to be a hassle, but the buyer also thinks the same thing. But in truth, adding these items to a paint to a paint bid and having them done at the same time might only only add one or two thousand to the job cost. A buyers reaction if it is not done is "Oh my, this is going to be sooooooo, much work, I have to scrape the ceilings, remove the wallpaper and remove paneling, that is going to cost $20,000!"

That is the essence of SMART work. Work that costs you, the seller, and is perceived as improving the value of your home by $20,000.

It is a rare case that we don't suggest removing wallpaper. In one instance the wallpaper exactly matched the period and style of the home, so it was suggested by our stager to leave it.

When it's ok to leave wood paneling: When wood paneling is beautiful quality REAL wood then it can often be left.

Exterior

Exterior paint is not as important as interior paint: Why? Because exterior paint, while is has an emotional component, it is also a functional item. Functional improvements don't return as much money as cosmetic improvement. Our recommendations are always based upon making your more money. So before we would suggest spending money on exterior paint we would ask these two questions:

1) Is the paint so worn that paint is flaking off the trim, or there is visible damage to the stucco?

2) Is the color dated or emotionally drab or blah?

If either of the above is the case, then painting the exterior will make an emotional improvement and will pay for itself. However, if the paint is just a little worn, but an appealing color, then exterior paint may only return 1 for 1 at best.

Exterior Colors

Unfortunately, I have don't have any rules of thumb for this section. Our designers color recommendations are based upon the style of home, the type of material and the surrounding homes. That's why we hire a pro.

Rules of Thumb & Other Ideas

Think Big Picture to help Prioritizing Fix Up

A Buyers thinks - "What do I have to fix right away to move in?": When prioritizing what to fix up and what to put on the back burner pretend you are a buyer, and ask yourself the same question.

The other question to ask yourself, "Does it make the home more emotionally appealing?". If it doesn't pass either test, put it on the back burner.

Is it something that a buyer will notice in less than 3 minutes?

Owners often have a thorough understanding of everything that needs to be fixed. But most of the items are the functional items. While these may surface during the home inspection, fixing them won't create more emotional excitement. Will the buyer immediately notice the problem. If they will then fix it. If not, then put it on the bottom of the list and do the work on the cosmetic items first.

The budget kitchen remodel that postpones the need for a $40,000 remodel.

Your kitchen may be dismal, but spending $40,000 on the major remodel you have always dreamed of but never got around to, will likely only return $20,000. A losing proposition. A better solution is to salvage the cabinets by painting them and replace all of the hardware, if the counters are shot replace the counters with Formica, add a new sink & faucet and replace appliances that are obviously seen better days. With this $4,000 budget remodel, a buyer will not longer say "I am going to have to spend at least $20,000 on this kitchen". It's clean and serviceable, maybe even cute, and they buyer can get excited about the day 5 years from now when they can remodel the kitchen the way they want.

Consistency of color and theme

When a buyer walks through a home, you want them to "Get It'. What do I mean by "Getting It'? How well does the home conform to other homes they have seen.

Examples of how buyers might be confused: What would you use this room for? Why are there 4 different colors of carpet? Why did they do this to the cabinets? Why did they remodel this way?

These are all examples of what a buyers would say when a home or the decorating confuses them. If it confuses them, they won't be able to see themselves as the owner. A consistent paint theme and flooring them that unifies the home, helps buyers make sense of the home.

Keep buyers from being overwhelmed

Your home doesn't have to be perfect. No home is. But there is a point were a buyers become overwhelmed. If buyers see your clutter or junk, sees the home needs repaint and the carpet or floors need to be redone, their eyes just start to gloss over. They have hit their limit. At that point all a buyer sees it that EVERYTHING needs to be redone.

It could be the best home in the world, but they can't see it. I have seen homes like this and worked hard to get buyers excited about the location and/or the quality of the home overall. But if they PERCIEVE that there is a lot of work, then it's a hard sell.

Buyers Wonder - What else is wrong?

It is very hard to pull a buyer back from this emotional hole. If they see the home as needing TONS or work (and I am using a typical words that buyers use), no amount of logic helps. Despite the fact that I confidently show them that $10,000 of paint, carpet and linoleum will TRANSFORM the home. They don't have the vision.

Small projects are ok

If your home is in move in condition, but there are some things still wrong, this is usually ok. Buyers don't mind personalizing a home and making it there own. As long as it is something that doesn't have to be fixed NOW.

Landscaping

Buyers under estimate landscape costs: A buyer might look at a home that needs $7,000 of interior carpet, paint and linoleum and estimate that it will cost $30,000. Fixing this concern is smart. Landscaping on the other hand is different. Landscaping a back yard will likely cost at least $5,000, possibly $15,000 if there is a lot of hardscape. Yet many buyers will look at a large back yard that needs to be re-landscaped and think, "With $500 and a couple of weekends, I could get this back yard looking nice". They will underestimate the actual cost. Spending money on landscaping has to be done VERY selectively and kept small in scope.

Front Yards: If you are going to spend money, it is best spent on the front yard. Your two biggest paybacks will be trimming up trees, so that the front yard looks well taken care of and manicured. This is especially true if some trees are so big that you can't see the home. The second area to improve in the front yard would be adding color with impatiens or other flower to add color.

Back Yard: Again we don't want to spend a lot of money. We just want to make sure that the yard is trimmed back so that it is not over grown. The buyer will see a back yard that is a blank palette as an exciting opportunity to make the home their own.

Functional Items - That are obviously in need of repair.

But what about a roof that is obviously in need of repair, or some other functional item that needs to be fixed. If the roof is not visible or doesn't show visible signs of wear, then fixing it will not ad value. If this is the case, and we know that during an inspection the buyer will clearly see that the roof is shot, then we obtain an estimate, to address the fear of the unknown. If a new roof will be $5,000 then we don't want the buyer imaging an new roof being $20,000.

If the roof is shot and the south facing portion, which wears the most is facing the street, and the pitch is step enough to be obvious, then the worn roof has a will have a negative emotional impact. In this case fixing the roof will improve the buyers emotional impression of the home, keep them from thinking the roof is going to cost $20,000, and wondering what else is wrong.

The worse the better

When deciding what to fix, know that the worse the existing condition the greater the impact that can be made. The cost of carpet, paint and linoleum is independent of how bad the existing condition. The uglier the existing condition, the greater the return when the item is fixed.