Carpet vs Hardwood

[Bradley Jernigan]

In most cases I have learned tenants love to have carpets within there units however carpet can be a pain to clean once the tenant leave. In fact, most of the time the maintenance crew would have to replace the carpet after the tenants leave. I have now switched to hardwood flooring at most of my properties but want to get thoughts on which one is better? Tenants also leave scuff marks and scratches on hardwood but personally I think hardwood flooring looks better.

[Ricardo R.]

@Bradley Jernigan we have had the opposite feedback from Tenants on preference between carpet and hardwood floors in rentals. Actually, I'll rephrase, typically people that love carpet ONLY love it IF its new or they installed it themselves, otherwise most people do not like carpet in rentals as it always seems 'dirty' no matter how clean it is. Regarding carpet vs. hardwood... you shouldn't do either... instead look into LVP... Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring. There are many out there and basically they are waterproof vinyl planks that look just like hardwood flooring but are water proof and are able to withstand abuse from Tenant and pets with ease... 'Life Proof', 'Stainmaster', 'Smart Core' are some common ones. 

I don't like hardwood flooring in rentals because: 1) They are expensive to buy and expensive to install; 2) They require maintenance; 3) Re-finishing floors is also expensive and extensive; 4) They are not water proof/temperature proof and will buckle/warp if there is excess moisture from a leak etc. ; 5) Pets may leave gauges in the flooring from nails; 6) Compared to LVP they do not add any more $ in value 

LVP is nice because: 1) It's less expensive and easy to install; 2) Is water proof and scratch proof; 3) The thicker wear layered planks i.e. 12mil or higher will last longer than hardwoods unscathed; 4) its pet proof; 5) In the off chance that many years down the line there is wear on the floor, you can replace them still for cheaper than you can refinish hardwood flooring, and its a new floor again. 

The one thing to consider is the wear layer on the plank, the thicker the layer the more difficult it would be to scratch through the top coating BUT our initial planks on a couple of our rentals are a 6 mil wear layer and now we go for 12 mil + but even so.... 8 years later and the 6 mil still does not show much wear at all. I hope this help. I sent you a DM via BP, I hope you can assist.