Our first rehab

[Quynh Le]

I've been learning so much from the site and I just want to share with you my first rehab and what I learned from it

Got this foreclosure in December

The house was vacant for 7 years!!!

Lots of damages. So many holes on the wall and ceiling. No plumbing piping. A/C missing. Roof leaking

The house located in a good neighborhood with good schools so we decided to buy it

At first, we thought it only took us 20K and 1 month or so to rehab but I was WRONG. We ended up doubling that amount in 3 months to finish it

We replaced the roof, A/C, re- piped and re-wired the whole house, took out the deck, changed doors and windows, patched dry walls, installed granite counter top, vinyl flooring, landscaping 

This is what I learned

Rehab cost:  don't underestimate. Next time, i'm gonna double the amount that I think it's gonna cost to be on the safe side

Get multiple quotes: there's HUGE range between contractors and companies so make sure you get multiple quotes. 2 electrician quoted me 18K to re-wire the house and another one quoted me 5K (including recessed lightings and pendant lights :) . I shopped around and got my granite counter top installed for 2K

However, my hardest part was dealing with contractors

Contractors: they're always late, behind scheduled. They charge you for every little issues that happen along the way. So make sure you have a very detailed contract from the beginning. One of my contractors charged me $75 to replace each door. He replaced all the doors without the door knobs. He said it's gonna be additional $10 for each door knob. My husband ended up installing the door knobs himself

The best part is I got to DIY some projects

We installed the kitchen and bathroom backsplash. It's an easy and affordable project that make a a big difference in our kitchen

We stained the cabinets, painted the house

My husband made the bathroom vanity

The house rented out last week and I'm searching for our next project