Calculating returns for putting in new flooring in a SFH

[Mathew Fuller]

Hello BP,

Wondering what kind of ROI you guys get from putting in new laminate / hardwood flooring on your properties? I'm looking to close on a property that has a pretty rough and old hardwood floor that I want to replace. How much of an ROI should I anticipate, what variables should I consider when choosing a type of flooring?

Thanks

[Jon Reed]

Calculating ROI on flooring improvements is just a shot in the dark. Sometimes your rent may only be able to be bumped from $750 to $760 after $4k in new flooring... according to the math it would be dump to do that improvement. However, you may end up getting a higher class tenant who wants to stay for years instead of months in the home and take pride in the home. So in that case a $4k investment of new floors could save you 5x that in a few years by avoiding lower quality tenants.

My 'ROI' calculation for improvements is much more based on would my wife and I be happy living in the house. If the answer is yes then it probably doesn't need the new floors... but if we wouldn't move into it then we would install new floors.