Which would you prefer if you were house shopping? My mom is selling grandma's house and she doesn't know which one a perspective buyer would want. I told her I would try to get as much responses as possible. She is afraid to make the wrong decision. Right now she is leaning on carpet, but I said hardwood.

Please help!

Heidi

I would say neither. Real wood can be hard to maintain, and carpet is a pain too.

Go with a wood finish vinyl or linoleum. Looks great, and easy to maintain.

Hardwood is definitely the way to go. Your mom's real estate agent should be able to give her advice like this; part of the real estate agent's job is to give you suggestions for how to make the house more marketable. Right now hardwood floors are much more popular than wall-to-wall carpeting. All the houses in our neighborhood that have new or refinished hardwood floors (or even laminate flooring) go faster and for more money than the ones with wall-to-wall carpeting.

On a personal note, when I moved into my current house it had wall-to-wall carpeting that we pulled up so we could refinish the hardwood floors underneath. I was shocked at how disgusting those carpets were. Having seen what was underneath them, I will never consider living with wall-to-wall carpeting again. The floors were filthy; so much dirt it looked like a beach. And there were mushrooms growing under the carpet and numberous pet urine stains. Nasty.

And real wood is a cinch to maintain; easier than linoleum or vinyl, which is easily damaged. I've lived in my house for seven years. We had the hardwood floors refinished before we moved and they still look brand new. The only thing I ever do to clean them is sweep/vacuum. The linoleum in the kitchen however, which was installed at the same time, has not held up nearly so well. It is nicked in several places, has started to discolor, and is starting to come up at the seams. The same thing goes for the wood floors vs. linoleum in my parents' house--so it's not just me. These days, hardwood floors are all finished with polyurethene, which is very hard to damage. The hardwood floors from a couple of decades or so ago were much harder to maintain, but that just isn't true anymore.

Of course, this decision should also be made with consideration for the neighborhood. If it is mostly starter homes and rentals, the typical buyers may not be able to afford hardwood and you won't get your investment in it back. If it all the other homes in the neighborhood have hardwood, you would be crazy to do wall-to-wall carpeting. This is why it's good to talk to a real estate agent who knows the local market. No one responding on this forum had any idea how your Grandma's home compares to other homes in the neighborhood, which is going to be the most critical factor in selling in it.

Hardwoods all the way - it was one of the deciding factors when I bought my house. I looooved the way the floors looked in the sun. I used a swiffer every couple of days and mopped every 2 weeks - no issues keeping them pretty.

I would pick the wood flooring that Home Depot installs. It snaps into itself and happens to be beautiful. It also is nice because the pieces can be taken out and a new flooring can be installed.

Many people have allergies. Carpets are pretty but collect allergens. After awhile, they mat down and look bad. It's costly also to get a company in to do carpet cleaning.

I prefer beautiful area rugs. Makes the room beautiful. I have to keep our berber carpet for now because my Mom is just shy of 80 y/o. If I had the house on my own, this carpeting would be all taken up except for the bedrooms. I like carpeting there.

Hard Wood.....So much easier to maintain and you always have the option of area rugs.

Hardwood. Looks so much nicer than carpet. If she puts carpet in they will probably just rip it up anyway and put in the hardwood.

Hardwood - richer looking, easier to maintain - also, if there is anyone with asthma or dust type allergies they are far better than carpet.

I just bought a house and the whole first floor is hardwood, I'm in love!! It took us about 2 seconds to decide we wanted to buy it. (That isn't the only reason, there were a lot of factors)

Also, I would suggest going with a lighter hard wood. It makes the rooms look brighter. We saw a lot of places with lighter hard wood and darker and I always thought the lighter looked nicer.

Hardwood! Hardwood! Hardwood!

I saw the house I currently live in and there were hardwood floors (oh, JOY!!! ) and much to my dismay, when we actually moved in, they had CARPETED it! It was almost a deal breaker (seriously).

Wood or wood-looking flooring. Bamboo and Cork are good alternatives for renewable resources.

Oh another piece of advice. I don't know the official name for it but stay away from linoleum wood flooring. I saw a house with it and was instantly turned off.

Is it Pergo?

No, Pergo actually looks decent. It is linoleum like and looks very obvious.

I'm just buying a new house, and one of the selling points for me was that they had put hardwood floors in part of it. Real hardwood--not Pergo. But part is also carpeted. So, we kind of have it both ways.

Jay