Savvy Sellers Increase Home Value with New Carpet

March 12, 2008 Portland, Oregon

Home sales may be down but they are certainly not out. As more “for sale” signs pop up across the nation, savvy home sellers are finding they need spend a little more money to make their homes more appealing to potential buyers. Adding extra value to a home may be the only way for some to sell a home in today’s weakened real estate market.

A fresh coat of paint, new window treatments and beautifying the yard are a just a few of the more common and less expensive do-it-yourself projects that can add value and curb appeal to any home. But few projects can add a bigger “wow” factor to a home like new carpets, says Alan Fletcher founder of www.Abccarpets.com a free consumer carpet information website.

“I receive hundreds of questions from consumers who are in the market for new carpet, but in the past few months I’ve seen an increase in questions from homeowners who are planning to sell or having a hard time selling their homes” Fletcher says. Some questions I’ve received lately have been “What color carpet will help my home sell faster?” and “I’m selling my home soon, what grade of carpet should I select and how much should I spend?” 

To help sell a home with worn carpet some realtors suggest offering homebuyers a carpet “credit” or suggest lowering the price of the home just enough to cover the cost of carpet replacement. “That’s not a positive approach, says Fletcher. To help sell a home faster and for a higher price I recommend replacing worn or pet damaged carpets with a new medium-grade, neutral-color carpet.”

There are currently several television programs designed to help home sellers address issues like “enhancing curb appeal” and “how to stage a home.” These popular programs show how homeowners  going to great lengths to make a home look presentable and prevent potential buyers from having negative thoughts or concerns. “A matted down or pet damaged carpet is very unsightly and unsanitary and may scare off potential buyers. In fact, a worn out carpet may even send a signal that the seller may be financially distressed. If this happens, sellers may only receive “low ball” offers.” Fletcher warns.

“In the 90’s, selling a home was quick and easy here in Portland. Even without good curb appeal many homes sold the same day they were listed. Even if the carpet was worn out and pet damaged it didn’t seem to matter, people were buying up homes and fixing them up as fast as they could. “Those days are gone for now, says Fletcher. With the dramatic increase in fuel prices I think people will be investing more money fixing up their homes and enjoy spending more time at home.” Fletcher suggests that consumers who are considering buying carpet should do so more sooner than later as more carpet price increases are on the way. By doing a little “carpet homework” folks can find a fair and square carpet deal and won’t have to spend a fortune to get a decent carpet but should avoid buying a carpet that looks too cheap.”

With 30-years in the carpet business and author of “The Complete Carpet Buying Guide“, Fletcher claims that buying carpet today is more costly, confusing, difficult and time consuming than ever before. “There are so many unscrupulous carpet dealers and carpet scams to watch out for, and honest and experienced carpet salespeople are getting harder to find” says Fletcher. Some carpet retailers are gouging consumers with $70 per yard prices for carpets that typically sell for less than $35 elsewhere. While I firmly believe that home sellers should not lose a sale due to the cost of new carpet, that may well depend on which carpet dealer they buy from.”

Alan J. Fletcher is the author of The Complete Carpet Buying Guide available at www.AbcCarpets.com. Visit Alan’s Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory to find locally owned carpet retailers in your area. © email Alan at alan@landlordfloors.com.

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Carpet Buying Questions? Get Straight Answers at www.HowToBuyCarpet.com

Consumers, are you getting ready to buy new carpet need to have accurate and honest answers to your carpet questions? Find out everything you need to know about carpet at www.Howtobuycarpet.com It’s the best online source for unbiased carpet buyer’s information on the web. Take advantage of the free “Ask The Carpet Expert” service provided by Alan J. Fletcher a 30-year carpet veteran and consumer advocate. Looking for a reputable carpet dealer? Visit Alan’s Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory (Carpet_Dealer_list) to see if there is an approved carpet dealer listed near you.

When is the best time to buy new carpet?

When is the best time to buy new carpet? 

© Alan J. Fletcher Consumer Advocate

Everyone’s been asking me this question lately. Is there a best time of year to buy new carpet? If you know what to do, the answer is YES! You can save as much as 25% or more by knowing when to buy and how to negotiate your best deal.

Carpet retailers have busy seasons and slow seasons. If you try to negotiate a better deal during their busy season, then you don’t stand much of a chance to beat them down on the price. However, if you negotiate wisely during their slow season then you stand a very good chance of getting a very sweet carpet deal for yourself.

Worst times to buy new carpet.

Now, when are the slow seasons you ask? Let me start by telling you when the busy seasons are so you can get a better understanding of the big picture.  The real question is,  when do people buy carpet most? You don’t want to buy carpet when everyone else is buying. It’s almost impossible to negotiate a great deal on carpet when there are other customers waiting in line behind you holding their checkbooks. Here are the big three common  ”busy” seasons to steer clear of:

 1.  Between February 20th and april 30th when people are expecting a tax refund

2. from the 4th of July through August 31st. During the hot summer months when people are remodeling an existing home or moving into a new home before the new school year starts.

 3. Mid-October thru mid December.  When people are geting ready for the holidays, and when out of town relatives and guests are coming.

The best times to buy new carpet. 

Alright, now you know when NOT to buy carpet if you want to negotiate your best deal. Now lets look at the three windows of “money-saving” opportunity so you know exactly when IS the best time to buy new carpet.

Once December 15th rolls around, the Christmas trees are going up and holiday shopping is at an all time high. This means that buying after December 15th is a great time to buy new carpet. This window of opportunity lasts through January 31st. By Feb 15th it’s all done, as the tax refunds are starting to come in. People who file their tax returns early know how much their refund will be and that’s when carpet shopping goes into full swing. You’ll be able to get the best deals at the beginning of January when this slow season is in full swing.

The next slow season is from May 1st to June 30th. The tax refund is spent, Memorial Day weekend is busy, the kids are getting out of school, vacation planning is underway and their is plenty of springtime gardening to do. Buying new carpet is not at the top of the proirity list for most people during this time. This makes it a great time for you to negotiate a great carpet deal. I suggest shopping from May 20th through june 10th for the best negotiating power.

The next slow season comes right after the kids go back to school and lasts the whole month of september. Everyone is getting settled into a new school year regimine, enjoying the last few weeks of hot summer weather, and getting ready for the autumn leaves to fall. No one wants to think about getting ready for the holidays just yet. September is a great time to negotiate a great deal on new carpet for your home. This window of opportunity is not very long, I suggest shopping early in September because once people start thinking about the holidays it is all done until after christmas.

Negotiating a great price on carpet.

Knowing the best times to buy new carpet is important, but knowing how to negotiate a great deal is more important. You can’t just walk into any carpet retailer and ask for 25% off because you know it is their slow season. Some carpet retailers will negotiate with you and some won’t. You need to know which carpet retailers are willing to negotiate. 

So you have to do your homework. You also need to know what carpet to select to meet your needs and goals, what pad is best for you. It doesn’t matter how great a deal you get if you buy the wrong carpet and pad. Proper installation is another issue all together. You must be sure to have your carpet installed correctly. Not every carpet installer does a good job, so you’ll have to take steps to be sure your installers are qualified, even if they are approved by the carpet retailer.

 Negotiating doesn’t start as you begin to shop for carpet, it starts after you have found exactly what you want, at the price you want, and have a total amount right in front of you. After you’ve done everything else right, just seconds before you sign on the bottom line, is when you hesitate and say “I’m not sure about this price… it seems pretty high to me. I need to think about this a little more just to make sure I’m making the right decision.”.  That is the beginning of negotiating a good deal on new carpet. Getting to that point requires that you do some homework. I can help you with that. Visit my website where you can learn the secrets to buying carpet wisely and how to avoid common carpet scams.  

If you want to know more about buying carpet, visit Alan’s website at www.howtobuycarpet.com . You can e-mail him if you have questions at Alan@landlordfloors.com

When I read the part in your book that suggested the carpet industry was as bad as the car industry, I thought you were just exaggerating the problem to sell books. Man was I wrong. This is ridiculous!

I have first hand experience with the car sales business. They have some sneaky tactics for sure, but they are all fairly predictable. Most of their sales tricks are well published and any consumer can be well advised if they subscribe to Consumer Reports or just do a simple internet search for common car sales scams to look out for. This is not the case for flooring salespeople. The scams in the carpet business are much more volital because carpet salespeople have the opportunity to come into your home to measure. This is where they have the chance to quickly sum up the customer. They can take a look around and make an economical evaluation of the customers lifestyle and financial status by what they see displayed in the customer’s home. Are there expensive models of newer cars in the driveway or are they  older and less valuable models? Is the home located in an expensive neighborhood or is it a double-wide trailer in a low-end mobile home park? Savvy salespeople can quickly sum up the potential financial capabilities of their customes by a short visit to the home to measure for carpet. This is where the customer can find themselves in a compromising situation. Do you trust that the salesperson is giving you and honest and accurate estimate? Or are you getting an inflated estimate based on what the salesperson thinks you are able to pay?

Learn how to save money on new carpet, choose the right carpet pad, get qualified carpet installation, have your carpet measuring performed accurately and protect yourself from the common retail carpet scams. Get an instant download of Alan’s ebook for only $12.95 : The Complete Carpet Buying Guide by Alan J. Fletcher, National Consumer Rights Advocate.

Learn more at http://www.carpetsupersite.com