Kitchen renovation Basement finishing

[Edgar Ferrari]

Hello,

I am looking at doing two improvements in two houses I own.

Both houses are located in very good neighborhoods in NE ATL. 

1. My tenants will likely not renew their lease and wanted to know for the first house what would be the cheapest way to reform the kitchen. The cabinets are old but the wood and design are good still, they just look like they need new knobs and some maintenance. Also The counter tops are not granite and all the houses in the area have granite counter tops so I will include those anyhow. 

Could anyone give me your inputs on what would be a fast and cheap way to do this? And also how much it would cost per ft of cabinets.

The reason I need this is that last time the property was vacant for 4 months and I had to settle for a very low rent. A similar house that I have got rented 300 higher ona couple of weeks despite being out for rent during the low season. 

2. Another house that I own has an unfinished basement and I wanted to know what would be a reasonble budget per sq ft if I want hardwood floors that look good but have the lowest price possible and then finish the walls and separate teh basement in a couple of rooms. I do not plan to build a bathroom yet.

Of course as a landlord I am looking at low cost look good options that will both allow me to rent for a few more years at better rates and also allow to exit with a good price by 2020-2023.

Thank you

[Sean Pincus]

1. For my cabinets I pay roughly $100 per lineal foot. I would try looking at ProCabinets.com. I shop there and they do a line of wholesale cabinets that are great. As for granite, I pick that up at $27 PSF installed, template and with a sink cut out + sink.

2. Basement all fixed up soup to nuts would be around $15 - $18 PSF (including framing, drywall, electric, plumbing, trim, doors, and flooring)

Hopefully this gives you a high level budget to work from. Obviously, there is a ton of factors that can change those prices.

[Stacy E.]

Wow!  I would love granite installed for 27 a sq ft.  It's at least 50 here...

[Michael McCartney]

If the wood and design of your cabinets are still good I would just have someone refinish them, maybe paint them and replace the knobs. That option would be a lot cheaper and probably still look really good. 

[John Santero]

For the countertops I use 12x12 granite squares which can be purchased at 5bucks each. You place two together to give you 24" (zero grout line)  then put a wood trim piece and stain to match the cabinets you are going to re-stain and replace hardware. The whole thing should not cost you a lot and its bullet proof. good luck.

As far as the basement is concerned- I lost more money in basement redo's than I would like to say. Watch out for moisture as well as having them heat and cooled. Out here the apprasials do not give full value to basement square footage. We get about half the house SF value.