Is wood flooring and airconditioning really a must for Asian tenants? (generally)

Not intending to be at all racist here, but I was at a flooring place today and I was looking at options and the guy said to me he had just sold some of the timber-look laminate I liked to a landlord who owned a property at Sunnybank. Apparently her Property Manager's told her that if she didn't put in wood floors and airconditioning then Asian tenants wouldn't even consider renting her property, and given the location she would be limiting her applicant pool significantly (apparently a high concentration of Asians in that area??).

Has anyone ever come across this sort of thing, surely its not an 'Asian-specific' preference? I was thinking of timber look laminate or vinyl plank flooring for my IP - thought that tenants would prefer it over carpets in the living areas to keep clean etc, but still carpet in bedrooms. The vinyl plank is a bit more durable though so I was leaning towards it, would it make much of a difference do you think between that and laminate for those that want 'wood' floors?
 
http://kalafranaceramics.com.au/timber.html

$80 m2 installed approx... Best of both worlds, looks like wood, lasts longer!
Isn't the house in Bracken ridge, or am I confusing another thread?

You need to figure out if the rental return commands flooring that will need maintaining. Laminate can get scratched, even pet claws mark them over time.

A good clean and modern finish on a Reno for any rental gets tenants in my opinion. You may not necessarily get over the odds rent for putting in more expensive, (to put in and maintain) higher spec finishes.

We had laminate once, in one room, constant spills and small amounts of sitting water ruined the adhesive over time (under 3 yrs) and caused splitting. You cannot easily repair laminate and tenants will not be as careful as you may be! We never got it again.

Another wee bit of flooring advice. Do not do continuous carpet. Have breaks in each room carpeted to reduce having to replace the entire amount for damage in one room.

Look at your market, rent in the area, and cost factor.
 
My asian friends prefer tiles and use their aircon sparingly.

Mitch1 your suggestion might be the best of both worlds then! ;) I did see these, but $80sqm is a bit more than what I wanted to spend though, and can't depreciate tiles as quickly as non-fixed flooring. Everything you said about laminate is why I was leaning towards the vinyl planks instead, other than carpet most of it seems to come in at a similar price per m2. Carpet can be a lot cheaper, but I'm looking to offer as pet friendly and think it might be best to go with something other than carpet in main areas. First IP is tiled with carpet in bedrooms and the carpet is filthy after only a short time, I'd hate to have had that throughout the whole place!

My property is not at Sunnybank, or Bracken Ridge - but I was looking in this area. I have one IP in Taigum and the one I'm just putting a contract on and looking at flooring for is in Zillmere.
 
My gf is Chinese and while she preferred wood floors we rented with carpet and she was fine with it. It's a minor consideration.

She doesn't care for air conditioning preferring fresh air from the window.
I on the other hand as a white man love my air conditioning when it's hot :)
 
I'm Asian descent and I like hard flooring to the living areas and don't mind carpet in the bedrooms. I try not to use air con. But I did notice in Asia that they will always leave the air con on full blast.

Laminate flooring can scratch over time. But I think the non-glossing surface is more hard wearing than the glossy laminates.

Put down whatever is cheaper in the length of time that you will be holding the IP.
 
Like Chausta I'm also an Asian. Asians tend to have a very practical mindset, therefore wooden floors would be preferred in high traffic/dirty areas of the house so that it's easy to clean. You could go either way for the bedroom for wood or carpets.

As for air-conditioning, in Asia we do blast it on cold all the time. Over here everyone tends to use it sparingly but during winter time it is heavily used since our tolerance to the cold isn't great. So better get air-cons with good heating and cooling.
 
http://kalafranaceramics.com.au/timber.html

$80 m2 installed approx... Best of both worlds, looks like wood, lasts longer!
Isn't the house in Bracken ridge, or am I confusing another thread?

We looked at some townhouses a week ago where they used this flooring. It was a cold, miserable day, raining on and off and these timber look tiles were freezing underfoot. We were asked to remove our shoes so I was in bare feet and I was as cold inside as I had been outside.

I'd be keen to visit these townhouses again on a non-rainy day to see how much different it felt. I guess they would be cooler in summer than a timber floor, but I found them very off-putting on the cold day we visited.

We have a tiled living area in our own house, but I guess the difference is that the doors to the patio were open and there were other windows open, and I guess on that particular day if we were living there, we would have everything closed and a heater on.
 
I have a couple of Asian tenants and both properties have carpet in bedrooms. One has vinyl living areas, the other is carpet with tiled kitchen. Both have split system. I got a request for a fan in bedroom from one but they were happy when I told them they could switch aircon onto fresh air setting.
 
I've lived in China for the past 16 years and every place I have lived in has had hard flooring throughout. Usually tiles in the common areas and usually wood laminate of some description in the bedrooms, although I have had wood throughout and tile throughout as well. Carpet is for offices. Chinese people remove their shoes at the door and change into house slippers, so the feel of the floor is not such a big issue for them. Also here in the north there is heating in winter so cold floor is not such a worry.

For my IPs in Brisbane (suburbs with plenty of Asians) I am gradually replacing carpeted common areas with tiles. I am very wary of wood laminate because of the ease with which it gets damaged, although I will probably do one place with wood laminate in the bedrooms as an experiment.

Those wood-look tiles look pretty interesting.
 
Asians aside,i'd rather timber flooring or laminate if your into that...I just find carpet is a dirty filthy breeding ground and high maintenance.
 
Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with the looselay vinyl planks? As opposed to the laminate? Similar price, but supposed to be a lot more durable and can be used in wet areas...
 
We're making this decision at the moment and price aside, would have the vinyl planks in a moment. I have seen the dark wood version in a busy cafe and even with the marks and scratches and burns from cigarettes I believed it was just very stressed wood. However, our local shop has just had it laid and already it has developed a large bump through the centre. I thought it was bamboo flooring, it looked cheap and shiny and awful. I must clarify with them if it was sheet vinyl, not planked, which I think it much higher grade rubber
 
I don't have personal experience with vinyl planks but while reading up on flooring a couple of things came up.
Warranty is voided in wet areas if they are not waterproofed.
Silicone should be used around edges in wet areas.
The floor needs to be pretty perfect underneath so faults do not show up on planks.

Aside from the cautions above, they seem better then laminate from a durability pov.
Damaged tile planks can be replaced if you make sure to keep some spares!
They look good and are warmer than tiles if cold flooring is an issue!
 
Back
Top