Do Hardwood Floors Increase The Value Of Your Home?
When looking specifically at home value increases resulting from hardwood flooring, the estimate is that adding hardwood flooring could raise a homes value about 70 to 150%. The best thing that you can do to improve your homes value is make sure your floors are all the same throughout the house. When it comes to increasing your homes value through new flooring, consistency is key, according to Home Light, a real estate referral company.
While it is possible the boost to your homes value is not enough to cover the overall expense of adding hardwood floors, the type of remodeling is considered one of the best ways to boost your homes value. Hardwood flooring in a house that is well-maintained and has updated contemporary features will help boost a homes value. If the floors are regularly applied with timber floor cleaner and timber floor polish, it can be always in good condition and you can probably get a lot more value out of making the other improvements to your house.
Of course, installing any new floors is expensive, which can make you question the potential resale value of your property.
In fact, carpeting or laminate may actually lower the value of your home.
No matter where you live, both laminate and vinyl are great floors to have installed in your home. The materials are low-maintenance and durable, meaning that once you have installed a floor in your home, you will have little or no cost for keeping the flooring looking great. When installed and maintained correctly, hardwood flooring has a property value gain of between 2 percent and 5 percent and higher, with better ROI compared to most other types of flooring.
In this article, we discuss hardwood floorings effect on a homes value, its return on investment (ROI), and compare its ROI to laminate, engineered hardwood, and carpet. When considering the amount of value that hardwood floors add to a home, it is important to take into account both the cost of the house itself, and what the comparable homes have. While it is difficult to tell for sure which type of floor coverings, besides hardwood, add more value to homes, it is evident that buyers favor a harder surface over carpet.
If carpeting meets hardwood in a visible spot, like the between-kitchen-living-room area, then that floor is going to cost less. While it is normal to keep carpeting in bedrooms, you are encouraged to place hardwood flooring in your master bedrooms, since so many buyers are looking for that upgrade. It is also good idea to put hardwood in your family room, living room, great room, home office, den, or dining room.
If you cannot afford installation, or if you would like more than one kind of floor in your house, then high-traffic areas like the halls are where you should place hardwood. Engineered hardwood typically starts at $3 per square foot, and it may be cheaper than real wood to install especially if you are installing it yourself. It costs just about $2 to refinish hardwood, much less than other types of flooring.
Engineered hardwoods increase value better than other floor options, often just as much as real wood — most people cannot tell the difference simply based on appearance. Given how close engineered hardwood is to real hardwood, it is easy to see how this can affect a homes value. Engineered hardwood, which uses a thin veneer of actual hardwood or bamboo on top of a structural plywood, does not generally hold up to the beating that the solid stuff does, although engineered wood has a similar appearance, and tends to be cheaper, making it a great option if you are planning on selling in the near future.
You will get higher returns on investment from cheaper floor options, like Engineered Wood or Laminate. In fact, depending on your homes pre-flooring value, you might see a greater than 90% return on investment with a flooring option that costs you less than $1.30.
In many cases, adding up means that your homes value appreciation would fully cover the cost to install the hardwood floors.
This means if you spent $20,000 on hardwood floors (2,000 square feet for $10 a square foot), you can expect to see $14,000 to $16,000 reflect on your homes sales price. While hardwood floors are considered an option for upscale properties by many, it is also important to note that almost 87% of buyers purchasing homes priced in the $100,000-150,000 range wanted hardwood floors.
Vinyl or laminate floors can still provide that luxury feeling buyers are looking for half the upfront cost or less than hardwood. Mixed floor choices in an entire home are unpopular these days, so many buyers might consider a hardwood floor only in one or two rooms to be no better than the house with no hardwood–it might all need to be torn down if it cannot match.
Wood floors are both sturdy and luxurious, and there are plenty of choices – maple, oak, hickory, walnut, pine – so you are bound to find a wood flooring style that looks amazing in your house.
Note that you can save some money on this home improvement project by going with engineered hardwood instead of true hardwood. While some home improvements do not really add to your homes resale value, there are others that will almost certainly do — and one of those is wider-plank hardwood floors. Yes, installing new vinyl siding in your home is going to raise your real estate values. If your home is priced at the lower end of the spectrum, then higher-quality flooring likely will not generate high ROI.
