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We moved into a house with the same situation. We cleaned the heck out of the older carpet and figured we'd save up and take care of it when the kiddos are out of the constant spillage stage!

It will be far easier to rip out the carpet and put in hardwood while the house is empty. We are currently saving up for laminate in our main areas, and I wish we had just done it before moving in.

We knew we had hardwoods underneath and had this issue. We lived in the basement during renovations. We had the majority of the furniture in the garage and paid the moving company to come back in and move it upstairs. A pro stained and finished it- I think it took 3 weeks. I vote have it done by a pro. If you can swing it before do it, if you need to save, wait.

If possible I would rip it all up and put in hardwood before moving in. Our current house is all hardwood (except the stairs and the upstairs hallway) and I love it. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and having hardwood has not impeded them in anyway (crawling, walking, etc). I just think it's so much cleaner!

I'd do it before move it. I'd also recommend not DIYing floors unless you have a lot of experience.
It's a messy and time consuming job.

I like carpet so if it's in good condition then I vote to keep it and save your money!

@Foodnerd81: I would do the bedroom one by one over time. Moving furniture out of one bedroom to get it done really isn't a big deal. But I would hire a professional. My husband's uncle owns a flooring company and my hubs worked for him in the summers. It's hard work. Plus, I'm at a point in my life where I can afford to hire things out and I would rather pay a professional than solo parent for a full weekend so my husband can DIY.

We kept the old carpet. It looks even worse than when we moved in. LO is 5 and we are SO done with this carpet. Can't wait to get hardwood within the year. Based on this thread, I think I'll ask about doing it room by room.

If you have the budget, I would redo it all before you move in. I think this could also help with buying new furniture since you can keep your floor color in mind. And for me personally, I would have a very hard time living with carpets since I've had hardwood for my entire adult life.

Redoing it while living there would be so hard! I, say do it before you move in if possible.

The house we just bought had original carpet upstairs and on stairs (42 years old!). We splurged and did hardwoods upstairs before we moved in, figuring it would be easier without furniture/family in the house.

The nasty carpet is still on the stairs, but my FIL is going to put hardwoods on stairs, and we bought a runner so the kids are less likely to slip and fall. He hasn't started on them yet, and the carpet grosses me out.

I'd just do it now if you can somehow swing it. Any work done after you've moved in, lived there, have kids, etc is prob a nightmare!