All Forum Posts by: Sarah D.

@Alan Smith you should talk to a mortgage person to see what non-OO financing would require for s down payment. I'd suggest not just using a rule and getting other people to tell you the numbers; at that point you should consider turn key properties or REITs. Take some time to learn your markets inside and out, and figure out what you need financially to get to your goals.

@Alex Shaughnessy you've got to give her more than a day. Especially right after going out and looking for forever homes. She might be on board, but perhaps needs a little more time to let go of buying her dream house for another year. 

@Christa P. I just went through this for the first time. It seems more overwhelming than it is. Make sure you have your application ready, with any app fees listed. I always meet someone out front, walk them in, show them around, then give them time alone to look around. I asked move in date, total people, total pets, and confirmed income before scheduling a showing. Best of luck to you!

@Bart H. I agree with your analysis, unless the cost of doing it 3 days faster = 1 month's rent.  That's the issue I'm facing, so until I find the right people for this I'll keep painting.  

All in all on this project we are losing ~$6k in rent by doing things ourselves, but saving at least $25k (this is across all renovations, not just painting).  Plus all of the project management experience and first hand knowledge gained, to make it so much easier to hire things out.  But I'm looking forward to the day where I'm just managing a project instead of doing so much of the work.  

Thanks for everyone's great tips and tricks!  I never imagined I'd gain so much valuable knowledge from a whiny post I made while procrastinating getting work done.

@Joe Splitrock Thanks for the tips!  This is for a full remodel, but for turn arounds I will be minimizing the amount of painting to touch ups and wall cleaning.  Definitely going to see if I can hire out the wall cleaning, lots of good advice about that.

@Jon Q. Funny you say that, my #2 goal of the year is to learn Spanish for just that reason (and because I live in SoCal; who doesn't know Spanish here?).  Agreed about the GC; I learned that lesson when getting quotes early on.  I'd much rather source out the things I need from the direct laborers than have the one stop shop with the 30%+ markup.

As other's have asked, how do you find good painters across multiple markets?

@Lucas P. Thanks for the great info!  Especially the cleaning tips, which should make it go faster.

@Linda S. This is our first property, in an expensive market.  We have more time than money right now; if I'm still painting in a couple years I've made a lot of mistakes.  But right now, this is the best way to maximize the property and minimize our rehab costs.  I agree with you, what we've learned doing things ourselves will make easier to hire out good people going forward.  

@Steve Vaughan Cutting in has saved me so much time!  My kids are too young to hire yet, but I am looking forward to that day.  And yes, if I could find good and affordable labor like Akron I would hire it out in a heartbeat; that is crazy cheap!

@William Walker I definitely factor in time vs cost.  It really comes down to whether the extra time for me to do it will cost more in lost rent than hiring it out.  Generally, the answer is no (much to my dismay!).  Having said that, it took me about 30 minutes to do the wall prep so I really shouldn't complain!  And once all the prep is done the painting goes really quickly.

@Jill F. you hit it, right now I have more time than money. 

It's 10pm. I'm about to start washing gross bathroom walls in the apartment we're renovating to prepare to sand and paint. I'm on BP because I don't want to do it...

I see  people talk about hiring painters that can knock out a job in a couple of days all the time. However, the prices I've gotten for painting are so expensive! Hence I do it myself. The only solace is the amount of money I'm saving. Where do you guys go to get it good and inexpensive painters? I've been quoted from $2000-$3000 for a 750 square-foot apartment ( that includes ceiling, trim, doors, walls).  I don't doubt they are worth it, but that's money that goes into the non-DIY line panel replacements. 

Side note, I love doing DIY while listening to podcasts about scaling up and hiring out; oh, the irony!

@Brian Ellis what's the expected post rehab rents?  Post rehab value?