All Forum Posts by: Adam Abdel-Hafez

I would never recommend laminate flooring to anybody. If it comes in contact with water (bathroom, kitchen, mopping) it will start deteriorating and shrinking/expanding creating large gaps in between the planks. I always recommend vinyl plank flooring, but that comes with a steep price tag ~$4/sqft compared to carpet $1-$2/sqft (of course carpet is priced per sqyd, but I converted to compare apples to apples)

No worries, you're welcome

No, they just know that there is a less likely chance that they will get the job seeing that you don't even own the house yet.

Do you know of any contractors/investors in the area that are able to do a walk through? If not, I would say get a few contractors over there for quotes and just pay them their $100 fee or so. They may do it for free, but typically not if you haven't closed on the property yet. You really don't want to go into a rehab without any kind of general knowledge of the systems at the home. I would recommend J Scott's books on how to flip houses and how to estimate costs. It will give you a great breakdown of all major components of a house.

Westen, I meant how did you come up with a renovation budget without even seeing the house? The previous rely is correct, it's very difficult to get in and out of a house for less than $15k. That kind of budget would include something like paint,carpet,new hardware on cabinets and paint, new fixtures, new countertops, and some appliances. This type of rehab may be fine with the price point you are talking about. But, this is you hoping that there are no problems with the roof ($5-$10k), siding ($10k-$15k), water heater ($900), furnace/condneser($4k), etc.

Where are you getting $15k from for the rehab if you haven't seen the house?

1) do not alter the floor plan for a rental. Worry about that when you sell the home retail. You will not get your money back on that. 2)A neighborhood - refinish the hardwoods (in Atlanta this costs about $1.50 or $2 /sqft typically) B neighborhood - up to you if you want to refinish the hardwoods on this. Kind of in the middle. You could add vinyl plank flooring with a rubber membrane in between that and the hardwood floors so it doesn't damage the hardwoods. C neighborhood-I would just replace the carpet with new carpet, but you could do the vinyl as previously stated 3) a or high b neighborhood probably tile, mid b or lower vinyl plank flooring. Vinyl plank will cost about $2.50-$3/sqft and tile will run much higher, anywhere from $6-$8/sqft

you're talking about adding/adjusting a bathroom and kitchen. Just those alone could be $50k easy. Just depends on what you are trying to do. If this is for a rental I would say the scope of work is too much. Like @Aaron McGinnis stated, you cannot pull permits unless you occupy the home. You will have to get a GC

Ali Allen yes, sounds more like a $50-$60k job. The only thing that concerns me is you stated it has a new roof and HVAC and the windows are new but installed incorrectly. Was a rehab started recently? If so, I am assuming you decided to go with another contractor. Going behind another contractor is not a job many like to do especially when they were removed from the job for poor work, which may have happened here.

I strongly disagree with all of these comments (except mine). I don't replace things based on the possibility of them failing in a rental. Do you replace HVAC systems once they are 15 yrs old with no signs of failure? Do you replace the roof after 20 yrs even though there are no leaks? Do you replace appliances once they are 6 yrs old? In rentals, doing preventive maintenance on things that tenants don't take care of like cleaning gutters, servicing HVAC and water heaters, etc should be done. But replacing items based on the damage they can possibily cause when there are no failures makes no sense to me. The only time a water heater could leak extensively is from a tenant being on vacation or the home is vacant. Tenants call me stating either their hot water isn't working or the water heater is leaking. I send my plumber out the same day and if it needs to be replaced then I will do it that day or the following morning. If any water leaked then I will use a wet vac and clean it up.