When potential buyers look at your home, they will immediately notice the condition of the flooring. If it makes a bad impression, buyers may decide that the house isn’t for them, no matter how attractive and updated the rest of it is. If you’re thinking about selling your home and it has hardwood flooring that’s scratched and worn, you would be wise to have it refinished before listing the property.
Make a Good First Impression
Having hardwood floors refinished can cost thousands of dollars, but it will be money well spent. If buyers see freshly refinished hardwood flooring, they will assume that if you took care of the floors, you most likely did a good job caring for the rest of the house. Seeing a house with damaged or worn hardwood floors can create the opposite impression in buyers’ minds.
Give Your Floors More Universal Appeal
Not all hardwood flooring finishes appeal to everyone. If you love the color of your floors, but it may not be a popular choice for others, you can have the wood refinished and stained in a shade that’s less polarizing and will help you attract a buyer. If you have different stains throughout the house, making all the floors the same color will make it more appealing to buyers.
Sell Your House Faster
Refinishing your home’s wood floors can help you attract a buyer quickly. You may recoup all or most of the cost of hardwood floor refinishing.
If the floors are damaged and unattractive, on the other hand, that will be a turnoff to potential buyers. Months may go by without an offer. When a home sits on the market for a long time, buyers often assume that it has major problems and don’t even bother to look at it. Having the floors refinished before you list your house can help you avoid an unnecessary delay in finding a buyer.
If You Can Afford It, Have the Floors Refinished
If money is tight because you’re saving for a down payment and other expenses for your new house, or if you’re behind on your mortgage, you may not be able to pay to have your hardwood floors refinished. If you can afford to put some money toward repairs before listing your house, refinishing your hardwood floors will be a wise investment.
Don’t DIY
Refinishing hardwood flooring isn’t the type of project that you should try to do by yourself. Even though you can rent equipment and watch instructional videos online, it’s easy to make mistakes.
If you refinish the floors yourself and do a lackluster job, buyers may assume that the house has other, more serious issues. If you make mistakes and hire a professional to fix them, you’ll spend a lot more than you should for the project. Either way, it’s better just to let professionals handle it and know that it will be done right.
