[alnorth]

This is the sort of thing that does not lend itself to message board polls. I'd also say "no, I don't think I'd care", but I don't know that because it would be a subconscious response.

A lot of people see 5 or 6 houses that, objectively speaking, they should like equally because all the details of condition, location, layout, etc are very similar, but they will zero in on one because of a vague feeling.

Maybe the realtor is right, or maybe they don't know what they are talking about, but you'd almost need to conduct an experiment with houses that have blue carpet on stairs vs those that have white carpet on stairs to see if there's a noticeable difference in number of people willing to make an offer.