Renovation Advice for Heavy Use Items

[Remington Childers]

Hello BP Community,

I am currently working on my first rental property. We are currently in the rehab stage of the property, and we are doing everything ourselves for the renovation excluding the heating and air. As I go through the renovation process, I’m trying to make the best decision for longevity of the materials, such as flooring, countertops, appliances, etc. I have heard that tile is very nice in the kitchen and bathroom as well as it is durable but replacing vinyl flooring is much easier (I think) and possibly cheaper to replace. I have also heard that its better to have black or white appliances for long term rentals as they don’t show dents as much as stainless steel does, but the stainless-steel look is the look that surrounding rentals are going for.

The overall goal for the property is completing the BRRR strategy and holding the property long term for long term tenants. I also am trying to hold to the policy of nice properties attract good tenants and that is also determined by a good screening process as well. But, for the sake of the renovation portion I would greatly appreciate the thoughts and opinions of what options you all recommend and what has worked well for you. I have added some of my most important components down below.

Vinyl plank flooring or restoring the original hardwood?

Tile or Vinyl plank flooring in kitchen and bathrooms?

White, black or stainless-steel appliances?

Laminate or granite countertops?

Thank you for the advice!

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Remington Childers, I give you kudos for giving this some thought. I think people often choose to believe what they want rather than try to look at these questions from different perspectives.

A good general starting point IMO is to look at what is expected for the kind of rental you are creating in your market. I would keep that in mind with every decision.

If for example I'm creating a B class single family rental, I want to meet EVERY "expectation" tenants would have of a rental of that type. PLUS, I want to identify some low hanging fruit for ways I can go ABOVE AND BEYOND the expected. For example, if in-unit washer/dryer hookups are the norm, I would include the actual appliances as a simple way to exceed the expectation. I will not try to exceed the expectation in every way, but I'll look for the easiest ways I can do it with a given property. Other easy ways to exceed expectations might include microwave hoods, dishwashers, adding a shed, including basic mini-blinds, etc.

As to your specific questions, I'll try to give my personal thoughts. There are no right or wrong answers.

1. LVP versus refinished wood floors. First off, MANY wood floors are not hardwood floors. In modest older homes the floors are often some kind of pine which is a softwood.

My general thinking on this question is to make the public spaces nicer and more modern. So, if the wood floors are in really nice condition in a living room I might refinish them but more often the floors are pretty beat up and I will use LVP.

In bedrooms etc, I will usually refinish the wood floors. I own a floor sander and can do it VERY economically. People care a little less about how the private spaces look in the home plus bedrooms are small and once furnished not much floor is visible. 

2. I use white kitchen appliances in C class units and stainless in B class units. For C class I may even buy decent used appliances instead of new.

3. For countertops I use laminate for all of them but that could well be market dependent. I'm certain a solid surface material could be expected in a more expensive market then mine in a B class unit.

4. For kitchens and bathrooms, I actually like peel and stick flooring. I know it sounds strange, but these are hard working rooms and get more wear and tear. With peel and stick I can EASILY replace a single damaged tile. I also do a lot of work myself and don't have experience or patience for tile work. So, that is a factor as well.