My realtor suggested we replace the carpet in our house before listing as it is well loved and quite damaged in some areas from our cats. They ideally want us to recarpet the whole house but said downstairs is the priority as it’s the first impression. Most of the damage is upstairs/on the stairs. I’m hesitant to do this because moving the furniture seems like a huge task that I am frankly not up for AND I’m concerned our cats will just damage the new carpet.
I suggested offering a credit for the flooring but they think replacing the carpet would be more appealing than the credit. I’m somewhat open to doing the downstairs but really don’t think I can handle a project like the upstairs as we would have to move everything downstairs and then back up. So it seems silly to replace the downstairs when buyers may want a credit anyway after seeing the damage upstairs.
Replacing cat damaged carpet
byu/Wrong-Wall-6732 inRealEstate
Posted by Wrong-Wall-6732
4 Comments
If you still have the cats in the house, do not waste money on replacing as the next owner will replace it all anyway. Cat dander is serious, especially for people with allergies. It’s not just replacing the carpet. It’s replacing the pad and sealing the slab underneath to keep the cat smell at bay.
It sounds like you may not be ready to sell…
If you want to sell this house get a storage unit and move most of the furniture out. Recarpet. Get soft paws put in the cats. Move minimal furniture back in for staging purposes.
Alternatively, recarpet the downstairs. Have the damaged carpet repaired on the stairs up where possible. Keep the cats contained upstair. But all of this stuff is going to have to move within a month of you getting an offer anyway, so the more prep you do now the better price/terms you will get on your sale and the easier life is going to be as you move.
We looked at a house a couple weeks ago that clearly had cat urine in the carpet throughout the house. It was also visible on the walls in one room. The house was mostly well-maintained and lovely otherwise but the smell was very noticeable. The smell could be why your realtor wants you to replace it. Any buyer that walks in there will smell it instantly.
Given the price they weren’t budging on, we passed based on this alone. Cat urine doesn’t stop in the carpet. It goes through everything and into the floor below. That’s a costly fix. The credit might be a good incentive though if you truly don’t want to replace it.
Realtor here.
You don’t realize your house smells. People will walk in and leave before they even see the rest of the house.
You should replace all the carpets and keep cats in one room until you move, or better yet maybe with someone else if possible, or you move first if you can.