Flip or hold as a rental?

[Lilly Fang]

I just gave an offer for a 4 bedroom/2.5 bath 2050 s.f SFH house, 450k, 8000 s.f lot, built in 1973. This house needs new paint, floor, popcorn ceiling removal, and a new kitchen and bathroom if a flip. questions:

1. how much is it to replace windows? is it necessary to replace windows? The windows are original, single pane windows, 7 big windows, 3 small bathroom windows, 1 slide door.

2. A house nearby was sold for 420k earlier this year and flipped (3 bedroom, 1600 s.f. 10000 s.f. lot, currently on the market for 649k. I don't think it will sell at that price. I would price this house for 599k for a quick sale. The problem of this area is that this is an older. established area of this town. 4 miles away is a huge new development area with lots of new houses selling for 650k for a 4 bedroom house, 4000 s.f. lot. Will an older, newly flipped house have a market? The new house does have 5k mello roos/year.

3. should I just hold it as a rental? leave the kitchen and bathroom as is, and rent it out. Probably rent is to be $2800/month. Hold it until the market is more clear and then do the flip.

[Kyle Ebersole]

Congrats on the offer Lilly! Great questions. 

1. Completely varies. I pay $450 a window but I have a deal with my supplier, I give them a lot of work, etc. The bigger windows will cost potentially double the amount that a normal window costs, just a heads up. Get a bunch of different quotes, ask what their pricing is on different levels of quality, different brands of windows etc. Costs can vary a ton. If you are in a nice market and your going up against newer homes, I would say that replacing the windows to vinyl, newer windows is a must. 

2. An older, flipped home will always have a market but I will never use a new build as a comp. Unless you have a lot more land (I'm talking an acre +) and a lot more sq ft, I wouldn't want to be close to new builds at all in price.

3. Love the idea, but just running off of 1% rule, it doesn't seem like the numbers will work for this one at $2800 a month in rent. Maybe you have different financing and you are not taking a loan out on the property, then it would work! But if you are taking a loan out on the property, I doubt $2800 would cashflow for you.