Repairs 101

[Chukwudi Motanya]

Hey BP fam I hope everyone is doing well. Still in the education phase of my real estate career and I have learned a lot just from reading the forums.

One area that I believe I could learn more about are House repairs. Usually when I am going around with a realtor I can hold my own with the number analysis, but I am a little clueless when it comes down to repairs (what is the life shelf for a good roof? HVAC??) Wanted to ask what do you guys suggest I do to educate myself in this area. Any forums you could point me to? Books I should read? General rules of thumb I might be able to follow?

Thanks for all of your input!

Chudi

[Michael Woodward]

@Chukwudi Motanya , In my opinion, the very best way to start your education about construction and remodeling is to do a "virtual" remodel on your own house. In other words, pretend that you are about to gut your entire house and remodel it from top to bottom. Spend several days visualizing the entire process and writing out a complete list of tasks. When you feel that you have a good handle on it, take your list down to your local Lowes or Home Depot. These stores have installation crews for all of the major items they sell so they will be able to give you lots of information about how it will be done as well as pricing for each (roofing, flooring, cabinets, etc). Ask lots of questions from each department. Keep in mind that you're going to get lots of opinions and different viewpoints depending on the experience of the person you're talking to so it might be a good idea to do the same thing at multiple locations.

It will take some time to educate yourself but it will be very valuable. Resist the urge to take short cuts. Good luck!