Does New Carpet Help You Sell Your House?

Severely damaged carpeting needs to be replaced to help sell your home. If your carpet is threadbare in any area, replacement is a must. Carpeting that has faded or has uneven color also needs attention. Sun-damaged carpeting also means you'll need to replace the flooring. Dyeing carpeting is less expensive than installing new carpeting and might offer an alternative to replacement. Patching and repairing typically only calls attention to the damaged sections.

Wall-to-wall carpeting is a relatively new concept in the history of home decor and not one that some buyers embrace. A number of shoppers look for homes with hardwood flooring. Avoid covering quality hardwood with wall-to-wall carpeting. If you want to add a feeling of warmth in the winter months for your prospective buyers, add some large throw rugs to give the feeling of wall-to-wall carpet.

Replace carpeting with dated patterns or style. Small houses filled with large-patterned carpeting also need a flooring change. Large patterns make rooms appear smaller and make potential buyers wish for larger rooms. Even though mid-century style is popular, old-school carpeting with a loose weave -- such as shag -- isn't on the popular design list for most buyers. Even if you stick with the shag style, select a modern version with a lower pile and tighter weave.

Dark colors make rooms look smaller, while lighter colors open up spaces. Small houses with carpeting in dark hues need a change to lighter-colored carpet to give buyers the feeling of spacious rooms. Pale pink or light blue pastel carpeting typically fails to impress new buyers. If the carpet is in good condition, ask a professional about the possibilities of dyeing the carpet to something in the neutral color range. If that isn't possible, replacement carpeting improves your home's salability.

Homes with a range of carpet colors break up the flow of the floor plan. The multiple carpeting colors call attention to the flooring, rather than the size of the rooms or important features in your house. Replace the rainbow with a solid color. Also replace carpeting when the various carpeting colors clash. Hallways typically magnify the contrast when bedrooms feature a variety of colored carpeting. If one room features neutral-colored, quality carpet, save money by finding a replacement carpeting for the other rooms that come close to a color match.