Install new laminate floor board before selling, worth it?

Hey everyone, I’m new to here.
I’m in Sydney, was about to put my 4 bed unit on market for sale. Due to the heavy rain, some of the old laminate floor board at entrance area was soaked in water and damaged. See attached photos. But now it’s dry, after laying carpet and runner on top, it’s not obvious.
If change new flooring, have to do the whole apartment, cost about $5000. Real estate agent suggest not change. Investment friends says the opposite. So I’m not sure if it’s worth the trouble or just sell as it is. Appreciate your suggestions

 

The bubbles in the flooring detract from the appearance and will be factored into any offer x 2.

Is this water damage worth claiming on insurance?

 

Agree! Do you have tiles that match the other room in one of the pictures, that you could put in that hallway? That would solve the problem, plus you've got floorboards running in two different directions, which would take the focus off of that. Someone with a sharp eye will notice that, but many do not.

 

Depends on the likely sale price. If it is high end, then definitely change it out so you can seek the highest possible price. If it is lower end (eg. FHB) then perhaps leave as is so the potential buyer can beat you down by several thousand dollars with them thinking it is a big win.

If a potential buyer was put off by the floor condition, you could always pre-agree with your agent that the flooring can be replaced if a Buyer meets a sale price of $X.

 

Claim on insurance or change

 

Thanks Scott. Strata insurance may cover it but will probably take several months. If pay $5000 out of pocket for now, whether can generate $10k or more will be a question.

 

Thank you Jaydee. Fair enough. Would mid $900k be considered high end in Sydney for units?

 

Sorry, I am Perth based so $900k would not be FHB in WA but who knows in Sydney?

My thoughts on $900k would be get the property sparkling and repair any faults to achieve at least $905k+.

 

Talking to a RE agent today (Perth). His buyers want properties ready to move into. A property he had in January took a while to sell, over a month. It just needed flooring, paint and outside tidy up. Another in my street didn't sell till they replaced carpet and paint, then sold in a week. To me if spending $5k adds $5k in value but gets a quick sale then it's money well spent. Today's property very neat and 3 good offers in first week.

 

Wow, thank you for the note. Good to know. Pretty much decided to change the floor now.

 

It's a stop-loss, not an improvement. The buyers won't bargain you down$10k

 

If it's a $900k property, then change it. FHBs want something that they don't need to do anything with.

 

It's funny...I had a similar delimmna with some floorboards not long ago. An area about 1m by 1.5m was discoulerd due to some chemical spill issue. Agent said don't bother replacing as new buyers will replace the flooring anyway. I didn't replace it and not a single buyer mentioned it. They mentioned other 'negatives' (all properties have some), but the flooring wasn't mentioned. Sold for good price too.

 

Hmmmm interesting. My main concern is buyer may start worrying about potential water leaking problem when they see the bubble.

 

Can a nice floor mat hide the damage?

 

It is a concern I agree. It's impossible to know what buyers will think. If you're that worried about it, it's only 5k.

 

Imo this isn't a great idea. If buyers discover 1 thing is hidden, they will definitely start to worry what else....and if they 'discover' it in front of other buyers... not a good look.

 

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A neighbour got a nice surprise when he moved in and saw the floor. It's called staging.

 

Fair enough, it's a very possible scenario. A place is staged and buyers beware.

As an aside, I wonder what the law is. Suppose you have a huge black stain under a staged couch or rug etc. Is it the buyer's responsibility to check out everything before buying? To what extent does the seller have to disclose these things...or not.

 

If I saw that I would assume the house has a water issue and the floor damage is a just a consequence of a broader problem. So a $5K job could be $50K if the roof is the issue. Or perhaps the house was flooded. .....then walk away.