Our first deal - buy and hold rehab in Kennesaw, GA

[Julie Kern]

We closed on our first deal (buy and hold) Nov. 10th.  Here are the details:

Purchase price: $92,000

Closing Costs: $1,200

Rehab budget: $7,500

ARV: $125,000

Rent: $1,100 - $1,150

The house is in Kennesaw, GA in a great location (minutes to interstate, mall, outlet malls and other shopping and Kennesaw State University.)

The house had been rehabbed back in 2010 and from the pictures, it looks like they had done a nice job fixing it up.  Unfortunately, the last tenant left the house absolutely filthy.  The dog odor was awful, carpets disgusting, bathtubs filthy, etc.  Now with the carpets out and fresh paint on the walls (done after the pictures below were taken), it smells much better :)

This is a picture from an MLS listing from 2010:

Here it is today, after my husband demo'd the wheelchair ramp:

We're planning to paint the exterior trim Greek Vanilla (SW) and replace the shutters with black vinyl.  We're also *hoping* we can restore the front porch back to it's original condition (a small rocking chair porch, no screens or doors, and spindles where the lower siding is).  

We're repainting the entire interior (walls - Revere Pewter (BM) and trim- White) and replacing carpet in the 3 bedrooms with laminate.  

Here are the before pictures of each room (except the 2nd bedroom - guess I forgot that one).  

Kitchen:

We're keeping the flooring in the kitchen, and all appliances except the dishwasher (it's white so we're replacing with a black one).  We'll paint the cabinets, replace the countertops with a nicer laminate and keep the flooring, which is still in good shape.

Guest bath:

Replacing the vinyl with vinyl tile and replacing the vanity top (this one has significant cracks near the drain)

Master bath:

Keeping the vanity and fixtures.  Replacing vinyl with vinyl tile.  And cleaning the bathtub :)

Master bedroom:

Replacing fan and installing laminate

1st bedroom:

Replacing fan and installing laminate

Living Room:

Replacing the fan.  Keeping the laminate that was already here because it's in good shape.

I'll update with after pictures soon!

[Todd Whiddon]

@Julie Kern Looking great!  Have you found a property manager yet?  The one we use for our rentals in Cobb and Cherokee does a GREAT job!

A couple INEXPENSIVE things we do for our rentals to give them that "special touch" is carriage door hardware on garage doors and installing Howe Casing around the plate mirrors. Both about "20 bucks-ish" each.   I've gone away from installing hanging mirrors in our rentals as they have a way of finding their way off the wall with tenants.

For Laminate Countertops we use Milano Quartz 4726-52, looks FANTASTIC and hides USE/ABUSE very well, be sure to get the -52 "Quarry Finish" as it holds up better than the standard laminate finish -60