A New Home Search
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A New Home Search

After several years of diligently saving money, I’m nearly ready to purchase my first home. Because I’ve been thinking about buying a home for so long, I know exactly what I want my house to look like. I desire a place that has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. I also need a quiet space to set up my home office in. I want a massive, walk-in closet in my master bedroom. My master bathroom needs to have double vanities, a tiled, walk-in shower, and a Jacuzzi tub. On this blog, I hope you will discover how to set priorities during your new home search. Enjoy!

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A New Home Search

Should You Buy A Home With Worn Out Carpeting?

Elli Jokela

If you've found a home you like but the carpeting is in terrible condition, you may be unsure of how to proceed. Carpeting can be replaced, transforming the look of the home, but this can be a costly endeavor. Before you decide whether or not to make an offer on this home, consider these factors.

Is the carpet just worn or also dirty?

If the carpet is just worn, you may be able to live with it for another year or two while you save up money to replace it. But if it also looks dirty, is littered with pet urine stains, or has a nasty odor, you'll want to replace it as soon as you move in. Take this into account when deciding how much you can afford to pay for the home.

Will the current owners pay to replace the carpet?

If you really like the home but don't want to spring for carpet replacement costs as soon as you move in, you could make replacing the carpet a contingency in your offer. For instance, you could offer to pay the owners $140,000 for the home if they first replace the carpet. If the real estate market in your area is hot, they may get other offers without this contingency and accept one of them -- so be prepared for that. However, if the home has been on the market for a while, they may be happy to make the repairs just to finally make the sale.

What are the floors underneath the carpet like?

Ask the owner or the realtor if it would be okay to peel up a corner of the carpet to examine the floor underneath. Chances are, if the carpet is in that terrible of condition and needs to be replaced anyways, they won't mind. This will allow you to see what the flooring under the carpet looks like. If it's decent hardwood or tile, then you know that just taking up the carpet and living with a hard floor instead is an option. 

If the homeowner won't let you pull up the carpet to look underneath it, see if they have any idea what the floor is like. Or look at the floors in any adjacent rooms -- this can sometimes give you a hint. You can always take a gamble that the floor underneath is decent. Make the homeowner an offer that leaves you a little extra cash to replace the carpet if you need to, but plan on leaving the floors bare and saving the money if possible.

Whether or not you should buy a home with worn carpet depends on your budget and your willingness to make repairs. Keep the advice above in mind, and hopefully you can move forward with purchasing your dream home.


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