Introduction to Floors for Flipping Property
Not everyone who buys a home wants to live in it. If you are a property flipper, then you’ll probably want to know which floors will help boost your property’s price. Whilst there are bigger factors at play when determining a price of a house; for example, location and age. Investing in and installing desirable flooring can add some extra value to your property come sale time. Here is some flooring advice that you might want to consider if you are flipping property.
Hard Over Soft
Apparently, most people buying a home prefer hard floors like laminate, real wood and luxury vinyl tiles to soft floors like carpet. If, for budget reasons, you need to install carpet, then try to limit it to the bedrooms. Consistency is key though, try to floor the property in the same flooring as much as possible. When reflooring an entire property, then budget can become a concern, so let’s look at the price of different flooring options.
Real Wood Flooring
This will be the most expensive to install, but will also add the most value to your property. Most property agents will find it easier to sell a property with real wood floors and most buyers will be happy to part with a bit more money to get a house with real wood floors already installed.
Luxury Vinyl Tiles
Per square metre, using luxury vinyl instead of real wood flooring will save you a lot of money, but it may also reduce your property’s value a bit too. That being said most buyers are happy to buy a house with luxury vinyl tile flooring that mimics real wood, as you get most of the feel and character, but with no onward maintenance costs. If you are a hands on, DIY kind of property flipper, then you could even install the luxury vinyl tile flooring yourself to save some money on labour too.
Laminate
In the past, laminate flooring would have been the budget alternative to real wood flooring, but since luxury vinyl tiles burst onto the scene, laminate in truth has suffered. It may be slightly cheaper than luxury vinyl tiles, depending on the brand but it almost certainly won’t add value to the property you are trying to flip.
Carpet
Years ago, a nice carpet would have been the staple flooring to lay when flipping a house, but it just is not that desirable anymore. Carpet is, however, cost effective, so if you’re flipping a house on a budget then it is the way to go. Remember to choose a neutral colour.
Underlay
Don’t forget to lay underlay to improve the performance and longevity of your floors. Some property flippers might want to save some money and not install underlay, but if you do that then you’ll be doing a huge disservice to whoever buys the property from you. Different floorcoverings require different underlay, so check your underlay is compatible with your floorcovering of choice.
Conclusion on Floors for Flipping Property
If you’re flipping property then the main takeaways from this for you are: 1) Hard surfaces over soft surfaces (ideally real wood!) 2) Uniform colours throughout 3) Don’t forget underlay. For specialist areas of the house, such as kitchens and bathrooms, you can check out our other blog posts to find out what floor types we recommend for those rooms. Good luck flipping your property!
