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      06-14-2022, 07:13 AM   #22
rothwem
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Drives: 2009 BMW 328i Wagon
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Asheville, NC

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I think an important consideration is the market you're going to be renting to. My rental property has the original 1951 hardwoods in it and I was expecting to need to replace them after the first tenant turn, but they look great still. I bought the place in 2014 and did the first refinishing in 2018, they still look awesome. Part of this is related to the tenants I pick. My place is small (720 in each unit) and so there's no families, and its in a nice A+ neighborhood, so I don't really tend to get slobs in there.

With that said, if you're renting it to a family of 7 in a low-income spot, I'd probably go for something more durable. I looked at a place in a crappy part of Durham once, and the landlord had put down VCT tile and sealed it with acrylic wax, he said it was completely bulletproof.

I think the middle ground is LVP. I'm not wild about engineered hardwood--it looks nice, but you can't refinish it and it has most of the downsides of regular hardwoods. Its easier to install though since you don't have to sand it. We have engineered hardwoods in our primary and its been incredibly disappointing, durability-wise. LVP, though, seems to be easy to install, fairly durable and not overly expensive. I think regular hardwoods look better, but LVP does photograph well for ads.

Anyways, just my 2c from a fellow landlord.
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