New Investor with lots of rehab questions

[Jesse Ruiz]

What's up BP,

Noob here who needs input on a rehab/new construction. I understand that the ultimate goal is to accomplish a large enough gap between buying price + rehab costs vs ARV so I can pull out the initial cash that I invested in order to reinvest on another property.

I'm supposed to close escrow on a property in LA (San Fernando Valley) at the end of the month. It has a HUGE lot (over 8200 sqft). The house is small (1026 sqft) with 2BR 1BA plus a large den and a living room. I want to have longer term tenants so I think adding the third BR would help. Things I want to upgrade/add below:

-Add an additional BR by splitting the large den

-Open up the wall that divides the kitchen and living room to add a small breakfast nook/island.

-New vinyl flooring, but there is hardwood floors underneath the torn linoleum (should i refinish the floor instead?)

-New 3 BR 1 BA ADU in the second half of the lot

-Vinyl fence to separate the 3 properties? Privacy shrubs instead?

-Adding central AC to the main and JADU, or Mini split to JADU?

Reglaze the bathroom tile and reposition the toilet

The den was added to the home and the only way to get to the den is through one of the bedrooms. If I want to make a hallway, I would need to demo the bathroom or make the already small room a bit smaller to make way for a hallway. Another idea the agent was taking part of the large den for the JADU to make space for a small 2BR 1BA w/ kitchenette and small Bathroom. The only issue I see with this is part of the JADU would beon the raised foundation. Should I just leave the garage for the main house tenants?

The den has a flat roof that that looks like it may have a previous leak.  Would a roof tune up be worth it now, or wait until the rain starts?

I feel like the drought tolerant landscaping would be more out of pocket than just laying sod.  The house has a sprinkler timer and valves, but I am not sure if they're functional.  

Contractor or framer, plumber, electrician? I have an electrician, and a framer that worked on my house when we redid our stairs and french doors. I will obviously need to get permits from the city and blueprints approved.

Isn't BRRRR and rental property the same? The tools have these separate and I wanted to know what the difference was

Once these properties are complete and occupied, I was thinking of possibly doing an out of state deal. TX, OH, WI, IN, MI, FL, TN. Or should I stick to local until I get more comfortable anylizing properties? 

I would love some input bc I don't know where to add the 3rd BR. Take it easy, its my first investment property. :)

[Andrew Postell]

@Jesse Ruiz you'll need a contractor to help you with these questions.  I might say to post in the California forum as well - Bigger Pockets has some great state forums and usually there are good locals that monitor those. Also, try some local real estate meetup groups. Meetup.com is a good resource for those but some of the groups will also post here on Bigger Pockets Marketplace too. Even facebook might have some good local groups for you. But post locally for this. That’s the best bet.