What materials or things would you recommend on this first duplex

[Austin Mudd]

I am purchasing my first property - a legal 2 unit where one unit and an additional unpermitted unit need a lot of work (flooring, new kitchen, fixtures, bathroom, etc). I will eventually be owning this out of state so I want to do things in the rehab where I won't have to be worrying about making repairs every year. This will be a FHA 203k loan.

Current Layout:

Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/dnH4B5W3X2X8EfvSA

1st Floor: An unpermitted space with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, small kitchen area. I would get this fixed up by my contractor and move in here after my FHA rehab loan is refinanced after the 1 month project.

2nd Floor: Unit 1 - currently tenanted and no work needed. It’s a 1bd/1ba

3rd and 4th Floor: Unit 2 - needs full cosmetic rehab. It’s a 3bd/1ba. Trying to decide complicated I want this rehab to be.

At the end of of my 1 year occupancy I will have a spiral staircase built from the 1st floor unit into the 2nd floor unit so it will be combined as a 3 bed 2 bath unit.

Utilities are not split but I am going to be with my inspector and plumber later to find out if i Can.

The market is a great rental market. A 3bd/1ba will rent for about $450-500/bed and most apartments/homes aren’t renovated which expensive materials. Having a 3/1 rental isn’t uncommon, but it’s still less competitive than some 3/1.5 or 3/2 houses that are for rent. The people renting are mostly college kids and young professionals. I want to make the 2nd unit nice enough where a 3/1 is attractive and will keep renters, but not spending money you would spend on a $2,500 rental. I’m looking to hold this long term.

These are my thoughts and questions.

Flooring:

• What flooring? Thinking vinyl click-lock throughout the entire rehab project so don’t have to maintain any carpet. Should flooring be consistent everywhere or should I have a vinyl tile in the kitchen and bathroom to match? The wooden joists are also a little soft in the kitchen on Unit 2, which is above the kitchen of the tenanted roommate. I’m considered if laying vinyl will cause issues with noise below.

Kitchen:

• I want to move the kitchen to the other wall in unit 2. I was thinking I could just buy the standard home depot cabinets and get them in white since it will make the kitchen space look larger and brighter. I also would need to have my contractor vent out of the wall for the stove. Laminate counter tops as well and some cheaper stick-on tile backspace to make the kitchen attractive.

Walls:

• All the walls are plaster, which a good amount of places still have in the market since most homes/apartments are 100 years old. I don’t know what to do here. I could have my contractor or myself smooth out plaster areas, but I was thinking I might just have drywall hung. I’m not sure if it’s worth the expense to demo plaster and hang drywall (or, maybe hang drywall over the existing walls?)
• The unpermitted space would have new drywall though

Ceilings:

• I was thinking of drywalling the ceiling, except in the two bedrooms where the drop tile looks alright and can be painted white.

Fixtures

• All new brushed nickel faucets for bath and kitchen
• Ceiling fans in bedrooms and new light fixtures (standard HD) in other rooms.

Siding:

• New vinyl siding to replace the insulbrick

Electrical

• Outlets throughout and checking the service is okay (currently there are two breaker boxes + common box)

Utilities

• Want to ensure water, gas, and electrical can be split

HVAC

• The baseboard heaters look like they’re in rough shape. I have no knowledge of HVAC to assess what I should do here, or with the boiler.