Can't decide between vinyl plank and hardwoods for future rental
I own a 715 sq ft 2br/1ba condo in a very walkable/desirable neighborhood rents ranging from $1,200-$1,600+. It's time to choose a new flooring and I'm having a terrible time deciding. Whichever I choose will be used throughout with the exception of the bathroom. I plan on living there for a couple of years and then renting it, and there's a very good chance that I'll never sell this place.
TrafficMaster Allure / Allure Ultra seems to get great reviews here. If I purchase it I can install it myself and my cost would be $1,600-$2,500 including the underlayment necessary to meet the HOA requirements.
The hardwood I'm considering is a Mohawk 5" Maple at $3.10/sqft with a discount ($3.75/sqft with the underlayment). With professional installation around $3.00/sqft I'd be looking at about $4,725 installed. I've looked at comps in the area and it appears that most of them have hardwoods.
I'm the type of guy who would prefer to do it once and do it right, but with flooring it seems like they all have their benefits and drawbacks. I'd love to have hardwoods and the cost doesn't bother me, but it seems half the people here say they'd never do it with renters and half saying it's the only way to go. This will probably turn into another one of those threads, but I'd really appreciate any input :)