kitchen troubles in my first rehab. what would a flipper do?

[Yerry Balenzuela]

so long story short I bought a property that needs a lot of rehab and my budget borders on just enough which to be honest i'm sure is never really enough but enough small talk. bought the property for 200k, have 35k for rehab but planning to only use 30k and leaving 5k for buffer. the arv will be easily 300k if done right. anyone have advice on how to get this house a kitchen becoming of a 300k house for as cheap as I can get it while keeping quality.

I've looked into buying ikea boxes and putting expensive faces on them and also into buying from a reuse store and having home depot reface them but I don't want to pull the trigger without seeing what others have experienced. i'll be living in the house so what jobs do you think I should do on my own and what should I contract? By the way i'm a naval electrican by trade.

[Michael Lam]

Hi @Yerry Balenzuela

So you are going to live in it while you renovate?

Based on your post, your saying that only a kitchen rehab would yield a 300K ARV? Your question is too broad. I'm going to assume a few things for me to answer your question accordingly.

1.  Assumption is the home is in good condition and only the kitchen needs the most repair.  Most of your budget will go into the kitchen.

2.  Ikea?  Please stay away from that.  If around your area is comps around 300K.  You need to see what type of kitchen they are using for you to make this assessment.  Because some area doesn't need high-end kitchen to comp to 300K and vice versa.  It depends on the demographic of this area (buyers).  So based on your assessment you'll know what type kitchen you'll need.

3.  To save money, is DIY.  So look if your comfortable with your hands, find labor help and buy the items at tile/granite places that sell prefab plates (since its a flip).  You give them the dimensions, and they will cut it to the exact.

4. Cabinets you can find deals at your local hardware store (independent local cabinetry).  The style you choose needs to be within the comp's style.  So don't go too far "left field" if the surrounding area has a specific style.

5. If you notice in my advice, I have theme of, following the comps. Because that is your data you'll rely on to justify your 300K ARV. Don't go off of trends, or what other market does. You must stay course to the comps in your area.

6.  Most important but may be obvious,  look at perceived value vs actual value.  Never pay for something that doesn't look luxury (unless your in a high-end market that knows their stuff).  Always buy things as cheap as possible while looking "luxury".  To your point above, IKEA does have some items that are cheap that look nice, but they are known for poor quality, so I would be picky on what to buy if IKEA is the route.

7. Since this is your first flip..be done ASAP and sell it. Don't hold it as you can't afford mistakes. a 65K margin based on your ARV can quickly evaporate (excluding selling expense). Good news is selling season is around the corner so it'll be favorable for you to sell then.

Hope that helps!  and good luck, let us know how this turns out