All Forum Posts by: Johann Jells

Plain old Quicken. One bank account, one credit card is all that's necessary. Download transactions from your banks, categorize them. You're done. You have all your transactions ready for tax prep. Plus you can print checks directly.

It's kinda funny how the crowd seems divided between 'practical' and 'optics'. I read an article that said a lot of people stuck at home are finding the long trendy "open plan" to be greatly annoying when everyone is actually home. Fortunately for me my ancient units are not suitable for even considering opening up, but they're what people expect in old neighborhoods. Same with décor, timeless classics rather than trendy finishes. I personally would HATE white painted cabinets, it looks like doctor's office and shows every dirty fingerprint. But it sure is trendy!

But size matters buying granite. If he doesn't move the fridge, he's looking at only 16 sq ft of stone max. I could not find a stone supplier that would do a job under $1000 because of the fixed costs of measurements, cutting the sink, and installation. The DIY granite tile looks great, wears as well as slab, is more repairable, and costs $8.30/ft in stone, ply and Ditra underlayment, plus thinset and grout. It might not be worth it to pay someone to do it, but DIY it works out very well.

No, I mean making it easier to rent quickly at the same price point as less attractive units rather than trying to get more rent. It's still ROI, albeit less direct than simply higher rent. And being able to be more choosy will let you get tenants less likely to destroy the place. More ROI.

While that is sensible and simple, it doesn't account for easier turnover, which can be real money if you don't fill it quickly. And being more desirable if not more expensive allows you to be more choosy among applicants. So there are upsides to 'over-renovating', especially if it's DIY.

Sorry, I'm a simple buy and hold guy, I don't know much about exactly what brings equity. The only time I tried to refi the appraisals were literally criminal, but that's a different rant.  'High labor-low expense' projects like this and granite tile seem to be what you're looking for if you're into adding some sweat equity.  Excepting the doors, the major expense of that closet was 2 sheets of birch ply!  You could probably get doors for it from a salvage place.

Philip, you basically have to decide what's the selling point you want to make in the unit.  I've had people come in and gush about my kitchens, and have had tenants that appeared to use their range for storage the entire time they were there. My advice is based on 'good kitchens' have the most counter and the most storage. Other stuff is negotiable, like table size. As just one example I often see rectangular tables like you drew pushed to the wall to seat 5 not 6.

So as someone said, doing this well might not get you much more money, but it could make it easier to rent when a prospect who cooks comes in and loves the kitchen.

Here's another idea that I did in my own place, instead of using drywall, add shallow glassware and can shelves to the wall you build to the right of the fridge. The whole right wall of this closet is basically a shallow cabinet carcass I made of plywood and then veneered. You could simply paint it. The top is open storage space accessible from 2 sides, and I ordered all the doors to match the rest of the kitchen. Those 5 inches are worth a bunch of wall cabinets!

Do you cook? That kitchen with almost no counters is brutal, especially if you have a family. Add a toaster and coffeemaker and it's even worse.  From Philip's rendering it appears there's about 8' between the outer wall and the wall with the laundry, plenty of room for a table, especially if it's rectangular rather than round as he drew.  Of course I'm used to small city apartments and your standards may be different.

This is the $5 HD tiles butted close with standard sandless black grout. If you have more time than money it's a great solution.

The funny tongue was an idea to support a taller faucet than a stainless drop in sink normally can, but it didn't work.  Ikea has some really nice drop ins now where the faucet is mounted in the stone.

This below is a "lipstick on a pig" fixup I did on an old built-in some years ago, painted the cabs, replaced pulls, laid splash, made the counter and bought new appliances.  The DW on the end was added years later, and I just dropped a butcher block on it.  Damn cabs were so old I could not find replacement hinges in the correct inset!

Originally posted by @Phillip Rosin:

Jumped onto my trusty 3d software for a quick visual. Here is what it might look like if the refrigerator was relocated next to the laundry. Wouldn't be a lot of work in all honesty, but not sure if it would be worth the effort? It would make it seem a lot more open. I would just have to see how it makes the living room look afterward. 

I'd have enclosed the fridge and put a BIG cabinet to the ceiling above it! I have more or less that in my own kitchen above a closet I built, with doors on 2 sides, and its pretty useful for bulk papergoods and other stuff.

As for counters, the problem I've encountered is that there's a minimum charge for a job, making a tiny counter just as expensive as a larger one. My cost effective solution for my small kitchens is DIY granite tile. If you're handy and already have a tile saw, it's not hard at all! Plus not only is it way more durable than laminate, but if they did manage to crack a tile, you could pop it out and replace it. My oldest tile counter is from 2005, it still looks like new.