Houston rental property improvements - Roof replacement and minor upgrades

Buying & Selling Real Estate
12yFollow

Houston rental property improvements - Roof replacement and minor upgrades

Eric T.
Pearland, TX · Member since 2014 · 34 posts · 5 votes

Dear BP experienced Buy-and-Hold gurus,

First of all, thank you BP for creating such an awesome community to help starting investor like myself. I do have some newbie questions.

I am in the process of acquiring a SFR in Houston and considering the following based on visual inspection and from a Home Inspector.

1) Roof Replacement. No leakage but inspector noted that the roof has aged with only a year left. Inspection have shown there is no leak but it does have signs of deterioration. Two bids so far with cost ranging form $6K to $8K. Should I leave the roof alone for now?

2) Minor upgrades like.......replacing vinyl and carpet floor with tile (areas except bedrooms), Kitchen countertops from pretty roughed shape to newer laminate one, cabinets (kitchen and restrooms) refinish/paint over, etc....... Budgeting $5k for interior improvements/repairs but it is now way over based on bidding estimates. Any recommendation on much improvement I should put in?

I am budgeting 10K for the upgrades/repairs (including roof) but I can't seem to make up my mind as to how much upgrades and repairs I should put in. Current upgrades/repairs estimates is well past my 10k budget based on bids that I am getting from GCs. 

SFRs around this area rent comps at around $1,300/per month. Property built year is 1982 and around 1.87k sqft. 

Eric

0Reply
27 views

Most Popular Reply

John Chapman
Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2009 · 718 posts · 913 votes
12y

Here are my thoughts based on what you are describing.  (I realize I'm in Dallas, as opposed to Houston, but I'm pretty sure the advise will hold.)

(1) In order to give you better advice, we probably need more information including more specific information about what you want to get done.  Also is a $1300/month a nicer rental in your area, i.e. not low income?  (In my area, it is and I suspect our markets are similar)  This will dictate the finish out you have to do to get decent tenants.

(2) For an 1800 square foot, your $5k budget strikes me as insanely low.  You are talking about paint, flooring, and upgrades at a price of $3.6/foot.  It's just not possible to do that on that budget. 

(3) Do not refinish the counter.  I've done this before and it never works.  Tenants will use knives on it and will get ruined very quickly. 

(4) Anything you kick down the road in terms of deferred maintenance will come back and blow up in your face when you least want it to.  (I say this from first-hand experience.)  Fix it right the first time and make it durable.

1Reply
See this reply in the discussion

6 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • John Truong
    Real Estate Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2013 · 110 posts · 23 votes
    12y

    What is your purchase price?

    0Reply
  • Eric TaitPro Member
    Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2013 · 314 posts · 146 votes
    12y

    I would budget for the roof and take care of it.  As for the interior, I would resurface the kitchen counters (<$1000) and many of the companies will do the same for the cabinets and just change the hardware as long as they are structurally sound. 

    Both of the above should be less than 2K, then you can use the rest to tile the living areas and carpet the bedrooms. Should be enough to do that.

    0Reply
  • John Chapman
    Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2009 · 718 posts · 913 votes
    12y

    Here are my thoughts based on what you are describing.  (I realize I'm in Dallas, as opposed to Houston, but I'm pretty sure the advise will hold.)

    (1) In order to give you better advice, we probably need more information including more specific information about what you want to get done.  Also is a $1300/month a nicer rental in your area, i.e. not low income?  (In my area, it is and I suspect our markets are similar)  This will dictate the finish out you have to do to get decent tenants.

    (2) For an 1800 square foot, your $5k budget strikes me as insanely low.  You are talking about paint, flooring, and upgrades at a price of $3.6/foot.  It's just not possible to do that on that budget. 

    (3) Do not refinish the counter.  I've done this before and it never works.  Tenants will use knives on it and will get ruined very quickly. 

    (4) Anything you kick down the road in terms of deferred maintenance will come back and blow up in your face when you least want it to.  (I say this from first-hand experience.)  Fix it right the first time and make it durable.

    1Reply
  • Hattie Dizmond
    Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    I agree with @John Chapman on everything he said.  If you delay anything, delay the roof, banking any and all cash flow to pay for the roof, before it becomes an issue.  Texas is not kind to roofs.  For the flooring, look into the ceramic tile that looks like hand scraped hardwood.  It's almost indestructible and looks good.  It's being used in a lot more of the better rentals in the DFW area.

    0Reply
  • Eric T.
    OP
    Pearland, TX · Member since 2014 · 34 posts · 5 votes
    12y

    @John Truong  SP is $110k

    @Eric Tait thanks, I am 90% sure roof replacement is very much needed. I came across some posting on BP that talk about detecting leak before replacing roof is consider. Just getting more feedback from BP experts. 

    @John Chapman, I am considering the following for improvements/repairs

    Roof, tile flooring, refinish/paint cabinets, replace restrooms vanity tops, replace kitchen countertop with similar laminate type, replace outdated bathtubs, and some plumbing repairs. Living room and bedrooms do not need to replace carpet as it is still new. 

    Paint is new so I wont touch it. I am still debating how much improvement I should invest to achieve better rent rate.

    Do you have any recommendation on roofing company best rate for this square footage?

    Eric

    0Reply
  • Eric T.
    OP
    Pearland, TX · Member since 2014 · 34 posts · 5 votes
    12y

    thanks @Hattie Dizmond 

    I've looked at the those Porcelain wood grain tiles at Home Depot. Price is about $2.39/sqft material but haven't try to get quote combine with labor yet. These and the Ceramic counterpart looks very nice.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free