Nearly finished
Finished up grouting the tile, got the receptacles back up, and got the smoke detectors replaced. Need to touch up the paint in places and that about it for the house.
The hard money lender (servicer, really) came by and had a look and said it looks great. Says the rest of the rehab escrow is in the mail. Hopefully it comes very soon, cause I'm just about tapped out.
He did mention the yard could use a little work. I messed with the sprinklers some in the last few days, but still have a sticky valve and some leaks. So, tonight I'll head over and try to finish that up. I've talked my wife into working a bit more on the beds, so she's supposed to get some plants today and we'll get those in.
Started the refi process. Four to six weeks to close is the current estimate. We'll see how that goes. First time I've done this since the HVCC guidelines went into place. Rates are looking pretty good 6.125% with one discount point for a 30 year fixed.
I entered the property into Denver Section 8, and I've called them several times to find out what the process is. I have at least one prospective tenant that's approved for Section 8, likes the place, and would move in quickly. Not sure what's holding them up or why I can't get anyone on the phone.
Also updated the accounting on the rehab. Total spent is $12,532. Rehab budget was $9,000. So, why the $3,532 overrun. Several reasons:
1) Paid for labor to have tile installed. I had planned to do this myself. $1400
2) Tile was more than initially budgeted. I overlooked two items - the backsplash and the edge pieces around the tub and shower. The backsplash was about $95 and the edges were $170 for a total of $265. Those edge pieces are really expensive compared to the plain pieces. Overall, I was over budget $240 on the tile, so except for these two overlooked items I was very close.
3) Countertops. I found relatively cheap slab granite, so that ended up being "only" $1500 installed. OTOH, I'd only budgetted about $500 for this item. Nevertheless, it was a timesaver over granite tile, and looks really good. Which should help the appraisal. This was the one splurge vs other houses in the neighborhood. Granite tile is the norm, with only a few granite slabs.
4) Paint and paint accessories. Ended up needing an additional five gallon bucket of paint vs what I had estimated. I also didn't account for the plastic, paper, and tape for masking, and for the caulk. This was actually a bit of a disconnect between the painter and I. He has said at one point he would supply this. But then I later pushed him to remove the popcorn ceiling, so I didn't feel like pushing back on these items. Nevertheless, it was over $100 for all this stuff, plus $100 for the additional paint.
5) Miscellaneous. By this I mean screws, bolts, nails, caulk for the tub and showers, faucet and toilet hookup lines, trash bags, trash disposal, aerators, ant spray (which STILL hasn't killed the ants), saw blades, screwdriver bits, cleaning products, misc bits of drain to get the sinks and lavs hooked up, trim, etc., etc., etc. I consistently omit all this minor stuff, and it really adds up. Without a line by line accounting for every receipt, its tough to get an exact figure. Almost every trip to Home Depot for some big item resulted in a handful of little items, too. All together it looks like this was $600-800 for this little stuff.
The hard money lender (servicer, really) came by and had a look and said it looks great. Says the rest of the rehab escrow is in the mail. Hopefully it comes very soon, cause I'm just about tapped out.
He did mention the yard could use a little work. I messed with the sprinklers some in the last few days, but still have a sticky valve and some leaks. So, tonight I'll head over and try to finish that up. I've talked my wife into working a bit more on the beds, so she's supposed to get some plants today and we'll get those in.
Started the refi process. Four to six weeks to close is the current estimate. We'll see how that goes. First time I've done this since the HVCC guidelines went into place. Rates are looking pretty good 6.125% with one discount point for a 30 year fixed.
I entered the property into Denver Section 8, and I've called them several times to find out what the process is. I have at least one prospective tenant that's approved for Section 8, likes the place, and would move in quickly. Not sure what's holding them up or why I can't get anyone on the phone.
Also updated the accounting on the rehab. Total spent is $12,532. Rehab budget was $9,000. So, why the $3,532 overrun. Several reasons:
1) Paid for labor to have tile installed. I had planned to do this myself. $1400
2) Tile was more than initially budgeted. I overlooked two items - the backsplash and the edge pieces around the tub and shower. The backsplash was about $95 and the edges were $170 for a total of $265. Those edge pieces are really expensive compared to the plain pieces. Overall, I was over budget $240 on the tile, so except for these two overlooked items I was very close.
3) Countertops. I found relatively cheap slab granite, so that ended up being "only" $1500 installed. OTOH, I'd only budgetted about $500 for this item. Nevertheless, it was a timesaver over granite tile, and looks really good. Which should help the appraisal. This was the one splurge vs other houses in the neighborhood. Granite tile is the norm, with only a few granite slabs.
4) Paint and paint accessories. Ended up needing an additional five gallon bucket of paint vs what I had estimated. I also didn't account for the plastic, paper, and tape for masking, and for the caulk. This was actually a bit of a disconnect between the painter and I. He has said at one point he would supply this. But then I later pushed him to remove the popcorn ceiling, so I didn't feel like pushing back on these items. Nevertheless, it was over $100 for all this stuff, plus $100 for the additional paint.
5) Miscellaneous. By this I mean screws, bolts, nails, caulk for the tub and showers, faucet and toilet hookup lines, trash bags, trash disposal, aerators, ant spray (which STILL hasn't killed the ants), saw blades, screwdriver bits, cleaning products, misc bits of drain to get the sinks and lavs hooked up, trim, etc., etc., etc. I consistently omit all this minor stuff, and it really adds up. Without a line by line accounting for every receipt, its tough to get an exact figure. Almost every trip to Home Depot for some big item resulted in a handful of little items, too. All together it looks like this was $600-800 for this little stuff.
Comments (1)
Jon - Thanks for sharing the reasons for the cost overrun. As you and I both know, many new investors never account for these and often find themselves in trouble as a result. I look forward to seeing the progress continue.
Joshua Dorkin, about 15 years ago