Easiest Do it youself rehab/installation?

Question

Hey guys, need some advice: I am looking into rehabbing for buy and hold deals on houses. I can find the deals near my area (1 hr away & hometown), that show about 8% IRR in our model. My parter provides the money and I use my time to find deals, coordinate rehab contractors, and hopefully rehab some myself. The problem is my partner wants better returns, so I am looking to rehab some myself. I have 2 nights where I can work on rehab a week, and the whole weekend to work on them as well. I cannot be there the other nights due to work. I need to know some of the easiest self-taught/YouTube rehab tasks that save some serious money. This way I can convince my partner to go in on deals with me by saving money and him receiving higher returns. I continue to save my capital but I cannot save/earn at the rate I would like to scale. Any advice is helpful! Thanks!

Costin I. · Answer

@Andrew Schrader is right: everything is possible, if there is a will there is a way. So, it was not helpful to you @Parmer Cherry to just post a short negative response as you are probably looking for guidance. So here is some more details, or a more elaborate dissection of your post/question:1. "need some advice: Looking into" - first sign of trouble, a clear pointer you are a newbie, with little to no experience [and that gets clear on your second post]. Rehabbing requires a good degree of experience. Dealing with contractors requires a lot of experience - they will make or break your deal. And most investors get burned by bad contractors - this is one area you need to study a lot and, unfortunately to practice, before you'll get a handle on it. In other words, you should double your expenses here.2. "one hour away"...that is a lot of distance to cover, especially when you can't commit more than evenings and weekends. That "commuting" is cruel after the first couple times. Coupled that with your only 2 evenings and weekend, and I would say any project you'll do it will take you 6 months plus. Factor that in your holding costs.3. I don't know any "some of the easiest self-taught/YouTube rehab tasks that save some serious money" - that is an oxymoron, if they are easy, they will not save you serious money. If they are expensive, there is a reason for that, and is not because they are easy. You can do probably painting - that is easy and can save you money, but it will require time, and some experience. Preparation is key, and it will take you 90% of the required time, otherwise the end result will lack quality and will not stand the test of time. Use medium quality paint, don't go for the cheapest. Satin or semi-glossy for rentals.Regardless of what you think you'll be able to cover, you'll need tools and you'll waste a lot of materials. Factor that to your costs.4. "I can convince my partner" - flashing trouble sign - if you have trouble now with your partner, you will have major trouble once things will go bad, surprises will occur (and that is part of the rehab game), and more money will be needed. You both need to be very clear on the terms of your partnership. Research here on what that entails.He is right - you need better returns. Or in other words, you need better deals - you need to get a house at a very good price, probably 50% of ARV (which I don't know how you can do it in current market, maybe in your area is possible) and in fairly good shape (if it's priced 50% ARV because it's a wreck, you don't want to it, it's going to be a money pit for you).Which means you need a light rehab as your first deal, something cosmetic (paint & flooring). Do a couple like that first, then advance to more involved rehab (paint, flooring, kitchen and bath remodel). And then move into full rehabs.Try find someone to shadow on a couple rehab projects. Offer them your help and test your rehab mettle before going on your own (or on your partner money).Find a mentor to guide you - someone who is doing what you are doing and is willing to share from experience. For free.Regardless, you will pay for this "real estate tuition" you don't currently have - you'll pay with time, effort or money. Most likely you'll pay through your mistakes, which are guaranteed you'll make, but that's how you learn best - unfortunately, that will translate into extra time, extra effort and extra money. Make sure you have that factored in - I would simply double everything required for rehab. And/or a heck of a buffer.

Costin I. · Answer

Then I would say @Doug W. you made my point: it took you years and lots of effort to put systems in place and gain the experience required to make that kind of money. As a starter, a newbie will have to raise him/herself through sweat and tears and it will be awhile before some jobs/tasks will be beneath one's "time value".Out of curiosity, and since you mentioned "opportunity costs and competitive advantage", why don't you pay someone $200, or $300, or even $500 (actually, how much it would make sense to you?) an hour so they can make you $1000/hour all day long, every day so you can enjoy complete freedom? Or maybe, advance yourself to 10K/hr?

Doug W. · Answer

Hi @Costin I. Yes, that is pretty much exactly what I am saying. I don't work 8 hours a day though because I choose to be free to do what I want on most days by way of making smart decisions in real estate investing. I am not a newbie. I've been rehabbing and flipping houses for approximately 5 years and I am also a licensed contractor. You can nitpick my words all you want -- the point remains: you aren't going to get rich by driving 1 hour each way to a house on evenings and weekends to do tasks that can largely be outsourced to others. It's about opportunity costs and competitive advantage. If someone wishes to make entry level wages there are easier ways to do so. Cheers!

Costin I. · Answer

@Parmer Cherry If you are making $1000/hr already or know how to make that kind of money, then definitely pay someone else $15/hr, heck even $200/hr to unload you. But if you just started, it will take you many hours at $15/hr or even $0/hr to get to the point where you can get $$$$/hr.@Doug W. - are you saying you make $1,000/hr?? Do you really work one hour and get 1K? 8 hours and make 8K? You work a whole month and make 160K? Are you the same situation as @Parmer Cherry, beginner in REI with no rehab or construction experience? Care to share to us newbies (cause you leave us in the dust in that case) how to achieve this performance level?You need to have the knowledge, the experience, the means to get $$$$/hr to make sense to pay others $$/hr, and that doesn't come easy, nor fast. Or if it came to you easy, or fast, it will not last.

Doug W. · Answer

Here is my advice: don't do anything you could pay someone else $15/hr to do otherwise you yourself will only be getting paid $15/hr. Personally.... I prefer to make $1,000/hr by finding more deals. But that's just a personal preference.

Costin I. · Answer

I'll keep it short - WARNING: trouble ahead! Big time incoming "tuition" costs for you and your partner.

Brian Mcmenamin · Answer

@Parmer Cherry Painting is one of the best ways to save on rehabs. Its relatively easy to do, but is very time consuming. I would hire out for carpet install, electrical and major plumbing repairs. As long as your keeping the layout the same, you can pretty much find all your answers on how to rehab on Youtube. Good luck

Ray Fisher · Answer

Parmer, you can take on the tasks you feel comfortable with, youtube and DYI shows will teach you some things, I use them quite often. There are times I hire a contractor or there employees , observe and get a great education from them , I see how it's done right, I call that paying for my education, I have multiple sfrs within a 200 mile radius. I can only go to those on weekends due to the fact I have a distribution business I manage during the week. Like someone else said , those far away houses are usually about a 6 month rehab, If I have loans I have pmts due every month. those were 50% deals bought early on. but the added costs are there. I even hire my employees from distribution business on weekends, they can use the extra income ant I have a crew on the weekend. I tried to hire "cheap" contractors , I was chasing down, calling, begging to get stuff done. took two to three times longer to get a job done. definately dont pay them on thursday you wont see them till next week if your lucky, Today When i need a professional I call that reputable firm, they knock it out in a few days and im back in business. saved a lot of time and headaches. Cash flow in when rented or flipped, That's where I want to be .

John LaBanca · Answer

To answer your original question, here are some easy projects in order of least effort to greatest. Obviously you'll need to YouTube how to do them.Replace a light fixtureReplace a faucetPaint wallsInstall click-lock flooringThe combination of those four can make a huge difference in the attractiveness of a home.

Benny Cash · Answer

And to answer your question more directly, nothing is really going to be "easy". All the trades take years to master in order to perform them well, and poorly executed DIY jobs are not going add much value to your project. Unskilled or minimally skilled labor is naturally going to be the "easiest". For example, ripping up carpet or other demo tasks, removing wallpaper, etc. But you still need to be careful because demo isn't all monkey work -- you need to know enough about construction and rehabbing to have the judgement to make the right decisions when unforeseen things are encountered, and you need to be able to think through a demo beyond the head of your sledgehammer or teeth of your sawzall blade. Knowing how things went together is crucial in knowing how they need to come apart.Painting is another good DIY skill to have, but there are good DIY paintjobs and horrible DIY paint jobs, and there are a lot of very small subtleties that separate the two. So like anything else, even painting requires a certain level of competence. Again, a lousy paintjob isn't going to help your project so you really are going to need to use care in your prep work and technique. You may want to consider investing in a HVLP sprayer and learning how to use it for walls and trim. Picking one paint color and painting your trim and walls the same color can make spraying a huge time saver with a superior result.Hardwood floor refinishing could also be a valuable skill. Buy or rent the right arsenal of floor sanders and learn how to apply the poly. Light duty finish carpentry isn't all that hard to learn IF the house is relatively new and walls and corners are square and plumb, and the woodwork is simple. Learn the basics of mitering corners of door and window casing, coping corners of baseboard and crown, and caulking gaps and filling nail holes.