make ready tips: where to get refurbished appliances?

[Iman Yu]

Hello fellow landlords,

With great help I got from BP community online, BP meet up groups in Houston and other investor friends I've met in Houston, my partner and I were able to quickly pick up the knowledge we need to find a deal and close it before end of 2015.

We are excited to get our #1 property rented and out and we want to ask  you for some tips :-)

We are in the middle of our make-ready process and our goal is to get it ready to rent in a week. Our budget is about $1500. Our goal is to rent it at $1100 a month.

My questions:

1) where do you get your major appliances from? How much do you spend on a set of basic washer and dryer?

-We just need the basic models and we are looking to bring a set of washer and dryer.

-Do you always provide washer/dryer units in the house?

2) What are the general rule of thumbs to determine how much make-ready/upgrades to do?

- Is it based on cash-flow analysis, a % of total purchase price, or a % of monthly rent?

- Is it based on rental comp report? In other words, you want your unit to look comparable to other units in that area with similar asking rent price?

3) As far as choice of flooring, when do you decide to get rid of carpet and upgrade it to vinyl, laminate or hardwood?

Thanks!!

Iman