I see it all the time in real estate investor forum posts – “I think I can get away with $15,000 in repair costs” or “I’ve set my rehab budget at $10,000 for this property.” Obviously a SWAG (scientific wild ass guess). Don’t make offers on fixer upper houses based on a number you pull […]
12 Easy Low Cost Ways to Upgrade Your Flip or Rental
Improvenet recently published an article “10 Easy DIYs That Will Instantly Upgrade Your Home.” It includes some great tips on how to improve the appearance of your property with very low cost quick projects you can do yourself. Its a great article to refer back to before you put any house on the market. I’m […]
2016 Home Remodeling Project Paybacks
The Remodeling Magazine 2016 Cost vs Value report is here and once again is a great resource for real estate investors who purchase and renovate fixer upper houses. The report includes both costs and expected returns for a number of common home remodeling projects and you can even download a report for your city that includes job costs, […]
Good Looking Durable Floors – At About $2/sq ft
If you need a durable, low cost water resistant flooring product for any area of your fixer upper house consider vinyl plank flooring. Its super easy to install and far more realistic looking than you might imagine. After I put an oak vinyl floor in my basement office, my neighbor asked “aren’t you worried about having a […]
What to Do When Your House Doesn’t Appraise
Imagine doing all your repair costs homework, buying a property at the right price, putting a lot of effort into managing the renovation project conscientiously…..and then having the sale of your property fall thru due to a low appraisal. There’s not many things that are more frustrating than that for a real estate investor. Nothing […]
3 Good (and Free) Home Repair Cost Websites
In today’s post, I’m going to share the three best free home repair cost websites that I’ve found with you. All of these sites allow you to generate cost estimates for specific projects (e.g. roof replacement) based on your measurements and your zip codes. The results I got experimenting with them for the most part […]
How to Get Your Fixer Upper House Counter Offer Accepted
So you found a house with good potential, completed your repair estimate and calculated your maximum offer price. You then made an offer somewhat below that price in order to allow room for negotiating. As expected, the bank owner has returned a counter offer….that’s higher than your maximum offer price. Now what? If you’re like […]
Part Two: Stop Basement Flooding for Less Than $50
In my last post, I went over an inexpensive way to eliminate basement flooding issues caused by sanitary line backups. In this post, we’ll take a look at how to stop storm water infiltration basement flooding issues. The first thing we need to cover is the source of the water – the storm line system. […]
Stop Basement Flooding for Less than $50
I used to run scared every time I looked at a fixer upper house that had basement flooding issues due to either sanitary or storm line back ups. It seemed like an insurmountable issue to me. If the city lines are getting so full during a heavy rain or snow melt that they not only […]
Which Remodeling Projects Result in the Highest Payback?
As you work through your home remodeling projects, I’m sure you’re always wondering whether you’re spending your budget in the right places…especially if you bought the property to fix up and then immediately resell. Remodeling magazine just published their 2014 Cost vs Value Report. They also created an outstanding online tool that will really help you understand […]