Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2013 · 129 posts · 122 votes
Hello BP,
I just wanted to share some pics before/after of my latest remodel of a 3 family house in Hudson County, New Jersey. I renovated 2 out of 3 of the apartments ( 3rd unit was already renovated). Units are all rented now. Let me know what you think!
The experience was great overall. I can't wait to do the next one!
Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2013 · 129 posts · 122 votes
7y
This is a house hack/ BRRR in Northern New Jersey about 10 minutes from NYC. The house was an estate sale that needed a gut reno. We remodeled 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms, added another bathroom, replaced dated tile floors with hardwood throughout, updated plumbing and electrical.
We weren't sure that we were going to close on the property until the day of closing (it was an estate sale with multiple heirs that didn't get along...) so we were not as prepared as I would have liked to be to hit the ground running. Anyways, this is how the timing played out:
2 weeks to prepare drawings and find contractor
5 weeks to get building permit once drawings submitted to building dept
8 weeks for 95% of renovation & passing inspection (the last 5% of reno continued even after tenants moved in).
15 weeks total.
We advertised rental during renovation and were able to have tenants move in immediately after completion.
I can definitely see ways we could shorten the time in future projects.
Some things that took extra long included chipping out tile throughout and preparing subfloor for new hardwood floors. The tile did not want to come out!
Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2013 · 129 posts · 122 votes
7y
@Benjamin Haberman I am an architect. For my day job I design large scale multifamily (100-1000 units, highrises 35-55 stories) buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens & the Bronx. Both condos and rentals. So drawings and construction management I handled myself.
I used Life Art Cabinets, they are good quality RTA, purchase through a kitchen designer. I debated buying them online since I didn't really need a kitchen designer but the prices were comparable and it was nice having another person on site making sure install was going correctly since I have a full-time job. He did a great job, let me know if you would like his contact info.
Flipper/Rehabber · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 732 votes
7y
@Mala S.
Looks really nice , were you able to get an FHA loan since it’s a house hack /owner occupied ?
Sounds like an area that has potential to appreciate a lot more due to proximity to nyc
Architect · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2011 · 17 posts · 3 votes
7y
Really well done! Great to see another architect doing this... I hope to have my first deal sooner than later. Great material choices - clean and timeless.
Real Estate Agent · Livingston · Member since 2017 · 109 posts · 6 votes
7y
@Mala S. Looks like fantastic renovation... was this in Weehawken or North Bergen? Overall looks fantastic. How much did you spend on the kitchen cabinets? And where did you purchase the counter tops... I really like the way you have the stacked washer dryer... looks very clean.
Unfortunately we were not able to get an FHA loan since at the time of purchase the estimated rental income of the property did not meet the 75% rule - 75% of rental income must cover the entire mortgage including MI. This is because MI was quite high due to the high price point (around $600/mo if i remember correctly), estimated rental income was very low because house was vacant (no rental history to rely on), missing appliances and generally not in a rentable state. The house would more than qualify now after the renovation.
There were other avenues we could have tried, but since sellers were difficult (it was an estate sale with multiple heirs that did not get along), we decided to keep it simple and do a conventional loan with 20% down and just get to closing table asap.
Yes, its nice to see other architects on here. We need to be using our skills to make some money for ourselves and not just everyone else!
My contractor was great but I've been working with contractors for 15+ years and never had an experience where the contractor didn't make mistakes on a daily basis. Even if the GC is good, his employees are often inexperienced, rushing or wanting to do it the easy way instead of the right way. If you don't know how it should be done, how do you make sure your contractor is doing everything right? I'm talking about everything from flashing a new window installation correctly to prevent future water damage to making sure all finish work is properly aligned and looking clean.
Its only available for properties in the designated areas but you can qualify with 3% down and lower MI payments. It looks like a much better deal than FHA. There is an income cap to qualify however, so we were not able to do it.
We added in-unit washer dryers in both units. Stacking them in a closet is a great space saver. This was an expensive line item though and we debated on doing it. We needed to build out waterproofed concrete base with curb and drain for each and vented up to the roof.
Overall I am taking it as a learning experience. I think we spent too much money in general because of the design choices I made in an attempt to do a really good job. Some items were worth it and other items, no one even notices and were not necessary.
The washer/dryer installation was expensive but got the best positive response when showing to tenants and i think will be a good selling point if we ever decide to sell...
Thanks for sharing the details. I didn't know it takes 5 weeks to get the drawing approved. .
It's taken me longer to get plans approved for an addition in a small town before. They normally have 30 days to approve, on day 29 they can kick it back saying that the smallest thing is wrong and then the 30 day clock starts again with the new submission. rinse and repeat