Live In Flip

[Maya Torres]

Hey everyone!

My husband and I are going to be closing on a live-in-flip in a few weeks. We’re going to be living there for at least 3 years but it will inevitably be sold. It’s in great shape..inspection went well..it’s just very very ugly. It has some cute features but overall it’s just very outdated. We have a tight budget of 20k for a cosmetic remodel and most of the work we will be doing ourselves along with my father in law who used to work in construction (Hardwood floors, 2 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms.) The kitchen and 1 load bearing wall will be contracted out..and thank God it’s not a huge kitchen. It’s the load bearing wall that’s already eating up the budget but it has to go. Bedrooms and living rooms will be mostly paint..new sideboards..new closet doors..etc. Nothing crazy. However, we cannot go over budget. With the comps in the neighborhood it doesn’t really make sense either. So my question is, what’s the cheapest reno you’ve ever done..how much of it was DIY..and anything tips to cut costs but not corners would be appreciated! Thank you!

[Susan St. Martin]

If the kitchen has a decent layout then you can save yourself a lot of money by keeping the cabinet bases and just changing out the door styles. You could either paint everything or get a bid for one of the companies called "Enhance" (or something like that) where they refinish the wood. Then put in a fresh sink , fixtures and appliances and new knobs on the doors and put your money into new countertops and floors. And of course a few cool lights. Try to find some slab granite pieces in the boneyards of the suppliers. They will be significantly less than buying a whole slab. And if you don't need to do granite then there are some really nice laminates out there now a days. Here is one kitchen we did where we worked with what was there and just moved the refrigerator and added an eating bar.