Real Estate Investor · Tallahassee, FL · Member since 2012 · 105 posts · 19 votes
Hello, Board! I had made another leap of faith and bought Quad of 4 1/1 Apartments. I will use this thread to get some advises from the knowledgable public here.
This place is in pretty rough shape, but I am hoping to fit my repairs in my operating budget.
In each unit, I am planning on replacing carpet in the living room and adjacent kitchen with some decent looking tile. This will extend the life of the floor and will give an apartment a fresh look that will attract tenants. What does everyone think?
I am also looking for advice about how can I improve a curb appeal and facade of the building?
I just got a short sale and I'm trying to cut costs as much as possible. The flooring at the moment is old laminate and tile it has to go its in bad shape. I recently found out you can lay wood vinyl directly on top of existing floors. It looks easy but you have to spread some type of leveler over the floors first which makes me nervous. Has anyone had any experience doing this?
Recently did 2 tenant move outs and all I had to do was Swiffer the floors. No more carpets covered in drink spills, no more little bits of food buried deep in the fibers, no more calls to get the carpets steam cleaned before the next tenant. Looks great as well.
Allure usually goes on sale twice a year at Home Depot and can be bought for 99c sqft. Sales are usually Easter and Labor day. They don't put every color on sale but I have used both dark and light shades and both look great.
Thank you for the red door suggestion @Carrie Giordano for the doors idea! Really make a difference. I will also open up entrance at the top of the stairs by cutting cinderblock lay.
@Daria B. I am done with top two units. I will have a pro photographer taking some shots that I will use on postlets and craigslist to advertise. I will post them once I
Now I am moving on to bottom two units. My dilemma there is that ceilings are concrete and not too tall (8 feet). I am thinking about using 2X4 nailed to the ceiling and screw a drywall to it. This will drop a ceiling just above 7 1/2 feet which is within Florida Code(7.5 feet in living/bedrooms). But I am also concerned that 7.5 ceiling would seem kind of low for my perspective tenants. What do you think?
I did have to patch a roof in couple of places. But now it is dry. Its not perfect to have a patched roof, but once I think it will do for now. I am really trying to start the money flow with least money invested. I will likely visit a topic of the roof within a year.
@Daria B. I am done with top two units. I will have a pro photographer taking some shots that I will use on postlets and craigslist to advertise. I will post them once I
Now I am moving on to bottom two units. My dilemma there is that ceilings are concrete and not too tall (8 feet). I am thinking about using 2X4 nailed to the ceiling and screw a drywall to it. This will drop a ceiling just above 7 1/2 feet which is within Florida Code(7.5 feet in living/bedrooms). But I am also concerned that 7.5 ceiling would seem kind of low for my perspective tenants. What do you think?
Can you leave the concrete and paint over it or do you need to attach drywall to it?
How about attaching 1 x 3 furring strips to concrete ceiling both glued and screwed. Then putting 5/8 drywall over so it doeesnt get wavy. That might take 1 1/2 inch at max which isnt noticeable. Run any wires in first, and plumbing if needed.
Looks good to me. Redress any finishes to modern if possible. Are you replacing countertops? Looking for idiot proof countertop,,,thinking self poured concrete,,,anyone tried that??
How about attaching 1 x 3 furring strips to concrete ceiling both glued and screwed. Then putting 5/8 drywall over so it doeesnt get wavy. That might take 1 1/2 inch at max which isnt noticeable. Run any wires in first, and plumbing if needed.
Looks good to me. Redress any finishes to modern if possible. Are you replacing countertops? Looking for idiot proof countertop,,,thinking self poured concrete,,,anyone tried that??
Don, I am just using a stock formica countertop from Lowes($100 for 8 ft run). Quick and looks decent and fetches me my $600 for 1/1 monthly.
This is my most recently completed unit. Once a unit completed - I am renting it out. Currently I am in the process of pre-leasing units #3 and #4. The other two are already completed and rented out.
@Yuriy Tymoshenko what kind of materials will you use for the flooring especially since it will be a rental. What kind of area is the home located in ie: A, B, C? This will determine whether you should use high end materials or not.
@Yuriy Tymoshenko what kind of materials will you use for the flooring especially since it will be a rental. What kind of area is the home located in ie: A, B, C? This will determine whether you should use high end materials or not.
The area there is lower middle class. Lots of young professionals have been inquiring about it.
@Yuriy Tymoshenko what kind of materials will you use for the flooring especially since it will be a rental. What kind of area is the home located in ie: A, B, C? This will determine whether you should use high end materials or not.
I used Allure flooring. I submitted a bid to Prodesk in Home Depot and got a nice discount for 2500 sq ft of it. I am not looking to use anything high end in this property
@Yuriy Tymoshenko how did you go about submitting a big through pro desk? Are the contractors reputable?
The bid was only for materials. I would suggest to compile the list of items that you want to buy and submit them to ProDesk. As long as the quantity is larger than $400 - they will reach to corporate to give you a best deal. The larger the list the better