Thanks in advance for any advice.

We inherited a house. It was built in the 1950s and has about 1500sf of hardwood (oak, I believe) floors throughout that currently are covered with carpeting. Our goal has been to sell the house without investing much (if anything) in refurbishing it. It was the family's home for 40 years, so it definitely needs refurbishing, but it's a bit too close, emotionally, to think about doing a lot of work to it. Basically, this house would make a great flipper for someone -- but not for us.

Our realtor says the house would show better if we pulled up the carpeting to expose the hardwood floors. As far as any of us remember, the hardwood is in great shape except for one small area in a bedroom. But, you know, memories fade and we could be wrong.

If we decide to pull up the carpeting, what could we expect in a best-case scenario? That we could simply buff it and it would look acceptable (not great)? What about worst-case scenario? Again, we're talking about 1500sf of hardwood. What sort of expense could we expect if we contract this out?

I realize I'm asking unanswerable questions. We, ourselves, will have to decide if we want to proceed with this or simply reduce the asking price and let someone else deal with it. But your expert advice would be gratefully appreciated, in order to help us decide.

Thanks so much.

Wood flooring helps sell houses. Currently, Wood is the "IN" Flooring item. ..
Wood is expensive and high end new construction homes have wood and ceramic tile in the living areas with carpet only in bedrooms.

After 40 years, I would expect some staining and moisture problems and if it's Oak Flooring, those boards can be replaced at a reasonable cost.

It will cost a little money, but the return on investment is too good to ignore.

I cannot tell you costs as that varies with Geographical Area, but try to put emotions aside and make an investment with a high return. Fix the wood !!

Refinishing hardwood should run approximatly the price of a quality new carpet installed. Though it will add value to a home while carpet will only dress it up to sell not add value.

My first thought would be to just leave it as is. You really don't know what will be uncovered and you could get a botched refinished job to boot. Inform the prospective buyers that there is hardwood under the carpet and let them deal with.

Thanks to each of you for your thoughtful replies.

Jerry, you have pinpointed our feelings exactly. We would like to sell the house totally "as is," and we have pulled up a corner of the carpeting to show prospective buyers there are hardwood floors beneath. If they want hardwood flooring, they can deal with it after purchase.

However, this is a rough time of year to sell a house, and buyers seem to expect houses to be "move-in ready," which this one isn't.

I think right now we are leaning toward knocking a little off the price of the house rather than doing any refurbishing. If we do decide to have a go at the hardwood, though, I'll post and let you know how it turned out!

Thanks again to all of you for helping us clarify this decision.

So... we finally decided to pull up a substantial portion of the living room carpet to see what lies beneath. It turns out the hardwood is totally spattered with paint, which will require a complete sanding/refinishing.

My husband has done this before (successfully), so he knows what to do. He is leaning toward hiring an individual to do the sanding, while he does the refinishing himself. Only the living room and dining room. (The realtor recommends this. also I can't really see why this will enhance the saleability of the house more than just refinishing *all* the hardwood at the same time; i.e.: living room, dining room, hall, 3 bedrooms).

I will keep you posted about how this turns out, and especially how it helps or hinders the selling/price of the home.

Maintaining the bedroom with carpet is not a terrible idea. There is an attraction that many folks have to being able to put their feet onto a warm carpet when climbing out of bed in the morning or middle of the night.

However, I would put considerable thought into refinishing the hallway along with the living room and dining room. Most likely it is connected and being on of the heaviest traveled portions of any home, hardwood would wear much better than carpet. IMO the hallway should be done as well.

This is a good thought, Barquios. The way the home is configured, there is a tiled foyer between the living room and the hallway, so the hardwood area is not contiguous. However, if we refinish only the living and dining rooms, there will be a hodgepodge of hardwood, 12" travertine-type tile, thick pile carpet (gray) in the hallway, and then two bedrooms with neutral berber and one bedroom with horribly outdated sculpted pile carpeting in faded brown/cream/peach colors. Ugh!

Your post reminds me that we do need to look at the whole picture and envision what would best appeal to potential buyers. From that perspective, I do think refinishing the hallway, even though it's not contiguous with the living room, would be the most aesthetically pleasing.

Thanks for your input.