I was on a showing once, gorgeous unit, great location, but the lady in the elevator told the HOA had passed a rule that the buyer would have to put down carpet (over the beautiful hardwoods) because the sound transfer between units was so bad.  

Pub 527 shows carpets at 5 years also, would this be the same if I did hardwood or laminate flooring? 

They did a "broom clean" but the house was a mess.Their dog, I guess with their problems, started to crap all over brand new hardwoods (5 year old install). 

Upstairs - so they don't have to hear anyone above them (really important to a lot of tenants), first floor unit (older tenants, especially, love them, also better for disabled) has hardwood floors (tenants love them), is a corner unit (so fewer neighbors, more windows), closer to the parking lot (important to tenants) - market it with anything that's unique or better about your unit.

But, along with that comes the possibility they will buy some junker, or get some junker for free on Craigslist, that will break down and drain water all over your beautiful hardwood floors......

They were really bare-bones, but clean and well-maintained - with cheap carpet put in new for every tenant.The one thing applicants wanted more than anything else - and these units didn't have washer/dryers, disposals, dishwashers, bathtubs - which nobody complained about - was hardwood floors.If the only thing I ever changed was convincing the owner to put in hardwood flooring - or anything similar that just wasn't carpet but was similar to hardwood flooring, like laminate - I could have increased rents significantly.But, I'm telling you they don't care about dishwashers or counters or bathtubs or disposals or even washer/dryers in-unit as much as they care about hardwood-type flooring.The next thing the care about is in-unit washer/dryer of any kind or size.Next, a dishwasher.And I highly suggest you don't paint in any color other than basic beige. 

It was a bit of a fixer upper: I replaced the nasty *** carpet with floating hardwood, painted the kitchen and exterior of the home, and installed new a new hot water tank. 

They could easily find expensive places, if that's what they wanted.The one thing they did lament was not having hardwood floors. 

A combination of HGTV culture and American ASPIRATION has “spoiled” them into believing they deserve better than living in a small frame apartment, no stainless steel appliances, no hardwood floors and/or no in-unit washer/dryer but saving $250/month.

Hardwood all the way.