Rental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2017 · 43 posts · 35 votes
I just bought my first rental in Omaha, NE. It's a 3BR 1BA with 1900sqft. I'm putting about $6k into renovations, including rebuilding the bathroom from scratch and new kitchen vinyl floors. The house has about 1000sqft of gross carpet that is probably from the late 80s.
A couple people have looked at the house and asked me if I am replacing the carpets. Our plan was to spend our money on the updates we are doing, and replace the carpets in a couple years using cash from rent.
Should we stick to our plan and wait a couple years to update the carpet, or spend and extra grand on carpets now?
As with everything in rentals...go back to the numbers.
Is replacing the carpets now going to be financially worth it? By that I mean that if you spend $1000 now on new carpets will you recoup that in a couple years (I guess let's say 2 to make my point?).
You have to consider how much the super old carpet will effect your monthly rent. Let's say your ran the number and are hoping to get $1000 a month on your house. If you think you can get that despite the current carpet status then you should not replace the carpet. However, if we are looking at spending an extra $1000 in a two year or 24 month time period then that comes out to a cost of about $42 a month.
That means that if the old carpet forces you to reduce rates by more than $42 dollars a month, than you should replace the carpet. Or if you think that the new carpet will allow you to increase rent by more than $42 a month then you should also pay for new carpets.
*I am obsessed with finances and investments, so my above number ares not perfectly true. If you look at the opportunity cost of investing that $42 a month in let's say that stock market as opposed to the carpet, then the number are different. Assuming a $42 investment each month for 2 years with an interest rate of 7% compounded annually would would result in $1,043 dollars. So in this case the rent difference is actually closer to $43.50.
I just bought my first rental in Omaha, NE. It's a 3BR 1BA with 1900sqft. I'm putting about $6k into renovations, including rebuilding the bathroom from scratch and new kitchen vinyl floors. The house has about 1000sqft of gross carpet that is probably from the late 80s.
A couple people have looked at the house and asked me if I am replacing the carpets. Our plan was to spend our money on the updates we are doing, and replace the carpets in a couple years using cash from rent.
Should we stick to our plan and wait a couple years to update the carpet, or spend and extra grand on carpets now?
Sounds like you should do one of the following:
1) Become "Pet Friendly" and leave the old carpet
2) Leave the carpet and drop the rent
3) Put in new carpet and leave the rent or even try to get a little more since everything will now look "fresh"
I don't like carpet at all! renters will dirty it and or destroy it over time. cost of doing business I guess. but I personally like tile. Had a house rented for 5 years and did not have to do a thing.. of course it is more expensive but far more doable. Especially is you are planning on renting to pet owners. it's about ongoing costs and neighborhood.
@Brian Washburn I do NO carpet in rentals. It’s gross and just keeps costing money to replace. We do vinyl or vinyl plank flooring. Sometimes we do tile in the bathrooms.
@Brian Washburn
Ugh. Personally I hate carpets. Though some people (like my 13 yo son like the feel under their feet). To me they are a dirt magnet and the only comfort they may give is warm under feet in cold climates. If it were me, old carpets are the first thing I would replace and with almost anything except carpet. But my opinion is just a personal one. But, I do think tile, wood, or even laminate will be way more durable and stand up to rental use better than carpet. If the old carpet is deterring potential renters maybe you should consider addressing it upfront and maybe increase rental price a small amount to help offset the cost.
Hey all! Some good thoughts on this. I currently have 3 rentals all grade B-C in Anderson, IN (Just North of Indianapolis off of new 3 lane highway). Looking to do carpet in a few of the rooms. I've been told by another seasoned landlord to just install carpet WITHOUT PAD. Would anyone recommend that? Cost would be about half the cost (with just carpet). Just not sure, if the carpet would wear faster, effectively offsetting the cost of the upfront savings.
@Brian Washburn get the new carpet now. It will make a huge difference. You could get lucky like I did, I ripped up the carpet to my duplex I just bought, and found hardwood in good condition. Why anybody would put carpet over that is beyond me 🤷🏻♂️
@Mark Maly interesting. Have you seen any negative to replacing all your carpet?
Whats your opinion: Is the thought of uneven floors overblown with hard surface replacement? Thanks!
@Marty Bauer- No negatives with replacing carpet with vinyl planks that we use, besides the slight additional cost upfront. With vinyl planks, the floor doesn't need to be even.
Eliminate the carpet, I would use laminate or vinyl plank. Can't comment for sure on the vinyl plank but in my experience within reason if your subfloor has a consistent slope (but not uneven) laminate will work fine. If subfloor is uneven you will need to level in some way...how you do that depends on how bad
Hi all! Thanks so much for all the input. This is the most feedback I've ever got to a post!
Here is what I decided to do: We are going to replace all the carpet for new carpet. Kitchen, laundry, bonus/mudroom, and bath will all get vinyl plank.
There are some issues with the floors in the house slanting, sloping, and having unevenness. In the next 3-5 years I may want to try some things to even out the floors, which would require me to tear out flooring. With this uncertainty, I don't want to spend money on long lasting floors.
Carpet from Lowes will cost me $1.47sqft installed, about $1700 total and will make a HUGE difference in the look (and smell) of the house.
Thanks again all!