All Forum Posts by: Valerie Hiscoe

Hi Caleb

I'll send you a PM (personal message)

I agree with @Max Tanenbaum that old stuff will really stand out when surrounded by new.  And remember, most people do not have the vision, or especially the patience, to see what 'could' be done.  They want it done. The realtor can point out to them the 'potential' to enlarge with the closet, but moving is a big enough commitment for most people and they won't want to do renovations right away.  I would do what @Greg S. suggests and do a good lipstick rehab.  I think you can recoup the costs and effort in sale time, if not price, if you do the job wisely.

Good luck with it all.

Hi again

I'd plan on getting new cabinets. The kitchen of a home is one of the top influences for buyers (behind location, price, and number of bedrooms) so if you're going to put money anywhere, prioritize it there. Besides, you need a lot more cabinets and are you really wanting to find old cabinets to then refinish? Unlikely.  Go to a big box store, Home Depot or Ikea, etc and start pricing them so you'll feel more confident. 

Pinterest is a good place to look for visuals.  I would be happy to send you specific design options if you send me a detailed floor plan showing dimensions, electrical, plumbing etc.  It would help to have a rough layout of the surrounding rooms for traffic flow as well. If you tell me which stores you plan to do business with, that might help with specifics. Cabinets come in more or less standard sizes though so once you have a plan, you can get them anywhere.  Once you know the cabinet dimensions you're looking for you could start checking out a local Restore or other used building supply store. You have lots and lots of time and sometimes someone with a huge nice kitchen donates their stuff because it's no longer cutting edge.  If you know what you need to buy, you can shop that kind of stuff when it comes up.  Huge money saver when you have the time.

Hi Patrick. I don't actually know what rural raw land investing is - not something that makes passive income anyway but 1) I saw that @Dmitry Fomichenko commented above and I think he's a really good resource if you have money/financing questions. and 2) I was also really surprised to see someone, @Jay M., that lives in Vancouver as I do, talking about raw land.  I cannot imagine raw land anywhere around here so I'm mystified.  Although I may have met/seen him at an REAG meet-up. 'Developing' land I can imagine however.  There's also someone else here on BP who does stuff with land, @Steve Haight, who also might have insights.

Best of luck with whatever it is!! Lol.

Hi Mat

I know this is a little - OK, a lot, off topic, but if you have any Asian market, you're creating bad Feng Shui with the sliding back door because luck comes in one door and straight out the back.  Here in Vancouver I would have to move or take out one of those doors. Just saying. Probably not an issue there.

Also off topic but important - which front door do you want people, and by that i mean guests, to come in?  I hope it's the door to the kitchen because, if it's the other door, you are creating a lot of confusion for your buyers-to-be. Your treatment of the side door undermines the welcome of the main entry and will severely detract from your ability to amp up the curb appeal of the home. Where would you put the nice walkway, sharp looking mailbox, stately outdoor lighting and the flowerpots? Lol. So be careful with what you do with that 'side entrance' that's supposed to be for the family unless you want to reconfigure your whole indoor floorplan.  THAT'S the flow you should be worried about.  And it's why you think that closing off the door from the kitchen to the bathroom hallway is a problem too.  If people were coming in the main entrance, then they would certainly not want to walk through the kitchen to get to the bathroom. The family can either walk around or add a mudroom off the side entrance with a half bath.  And I am totally kidding about that because do NOT add a half bath, the plumbing costs would be insane.  An open mudroom would be good though. It looks like you have the right space. So, anyways, get the family to walk around, let your guests find the bathroom where it's supposed to be, close off the wall with the doorway so you'll have lots of room for your cupboard space, and take out the dividing wall so you can have an island.  An island in the kitchen is at the very top of the most-wanted list for homebuyers, so it would really be a waste not to capitalize on that.  And off topic again, but, ideally have the dishwasher on the right of the sink (which I assume will be centered under that fabulous window) and the stove on the left or, even better, in the island, not both on same side. Lots of cupboards above and beside the dishwasher for dishes, and cupboards or big drawers right across in the island to put away pots and pans.

It's a fabulous house - lots of space, great windows - looks like a great investment.   Best of luck!!

Hi Joe

If you did mean property manager and not project manager, then I have some experience with that.  I purchased an out-of-state property to flip and, because the company that I was hiring to manage it had an in-house construction team, it only made sense for them to do the work. They also made it clear that they had years and years of experience in doing this and did not need or want my input.  Chastised, I went home and let them do their thing. A year later I had spent tens of thousands and not only was it still not complete, most of the things that I'd paid for had either not been done or had been done very poorly.  Harsh learning experience.  I now wouldn't do another long distance flip.  Other people here on BP have had better experiences but they know how to keep their finger on the pulse obviously better than I - it's going to be a slow process for me to figure out how to trust but reaffirm. 

So just in case you're considering a long distance flip, find the guide 'How to buy out-of-state property. Very carefully' I think it's called, or close to.  Even if you're in town but only able to visit the site sporadically, it might not hurt to look over.

So now you have both project manager and property manager addressed.  Keep asking questions! and Good Luck with the job.

P.S.S.  Although it might look cool, moving the stove to the island and venting a range hood above it are expensive things to move that way.  If you don't move the stove, then putting a dishwasher between it and the sink probably wouldn't be allowed by your building code. And besides, why?  On the other hand, moving the fridge to the left hand wall of the new L shaped cabinetry with some 'trendy' new open shelving beside it, would be much cheaper, easier, and better for both storage and especially the sightline. The sightline is always important because it influences things looking much spacious.  I think her name is @Nicole Pettis, but she has some great design ideas, and is good with adding links too, for the visuals.

Again, best of luck.

OMG. Congrats Caleb!!  Obviously it was meant to be.

PS. If you do decide on an island, some options include: 1) putting your counter-height base 2) or wall cabinet (depending on how wide you want the island) with doors opening towards the sink, and back them with a 42" ceiling height wall cabinet  facing the living/dining area for your barstool-height eating counter. Or 3) if you just want to extend a raised counter from the back of the base cabinets, I've recently discovered some angled metal extensions at Ikea (in the table-leg pick up area - (I guess because they're very short, 6" or so, little angled table legs LOL).  Their advantage would be to give you a clearer sightline from the living area into the kitchen making it feel airier - but giving a little less storage than back to back cabinets would.

I believe that, if it's available in one area, it's probably available everywhere so, here, Ikea also has an extremely reasonably-priced butcher block countertop that you might want to use somewhere. Countertop are big sellers so if you can use the butcher block somewhere - say on the island or just even the bartop, you can spend a little more on the remaining counter (while always keeping in mind that you only want to stay in the higher end of YOUR market).

Congratulations again. I'm very excited for you!

Hi @Diane Lee

I have to agree with @Matt Geerts. Focus on buying your own place first.  Your down payment will be less although you'll need the income, credit rating, etc to qualify for the mortgage.  Although it was recommended that you talk to a lawyer first, I'm going to assume that you're in Canada legally so I'm not sure why you'd start that way. My advice would be to attend a local real estate investment club meeting and find a mortgage broker who deals with investors. Make an appointment to apply for a mortgage. Just do it even if you knew there's no way you could get a mortgage right now.  A mortgage broker will tell you what you need, how you need to organize it, and give you a bit of an idea of where you stand.  A broker who specializes in investment properties will be able to give you specific advice on how to set up your finances for future growth and help you set goals to work towards.

Rent is a large chunk of a paycheck that is better saved by adding equity to your own home instead of handed over to someone else.  If you can get someone to pay you rent for living in your place at the same time as Matt suggested, 'house hacking', then so much the better but you'll probably need to start with a smaller space but maybe plan that as your next step.

The only thing you should keep in mind is that you need to buy your own place wisely, just like an investment. Start looking at areas that you'll be able to afford and get to know what's a good deal and what isn't.  Get a couple of Realtors to send you information on properties that come up in the areas you like. They'll just put you on an automated list so don't feel guilty about taking their time. Tell them you might not be in a position to buy right now but, if they're going to be showing a property to somebody else in the area you like, ask if you can see it while they are there.  Anything you can think of to get to know an area to choose. 

Those are the kinds of actions you can take before you're able to start taking action.

Best of luck to you. (And there's an article out this month in either the magazine called 'Money' or 'Money Sense' that you'd be interested to read I think)

Hi Akash,

Welcome to BP!  Nice to meet another local.  I don't know anything about wholesaling so I can't help you there but have you visited any real estate clubs or meetings?  There's a club I've belonged to called the Real Estate Action Group (reag.ca) that I highly recommend.  They have something called 'Facts by Email' too which is a weekly newsletter with a lot of great info and they have conventions and seminars and stuff.  There's also REIN but I haven't been to one of their meetings.  There are a lot of guides and tools here on Bigger Pockets too - hope you have fun with it.