Last Rehab

Estimating cost for a rehab is one thing.  Estimating time spent on a rehab is another.  My wife and I agreed after our most recent rehab to rental that we are not touching a house again.  While it seems hard to shell out $$ for a contractor, the fact is they do the work many times faster than I do.  Their time is better work time due to their experience.  We will stick to strictly maintenance items. 

Our most recent home acquisition was a HUD in Albert Lea.  The property had a good roof, okay siding, and nice curb appeal.  My master plan was to buy in the winter when bids are few and far between.   I won this one, a HUD bid, at about 31K, and estimated $6,000.00 in repairs.  My first day of rehab, now 60 days ago (yuck) uncovered two unsightly issues.  One is that the gas lines did not pass the air test.  Two was the power company would not restore power without an upgrade.  Next adventure was the water heater, had to be replaced.  Then the pipes in the house had to be replaced.  The costs kept going up, and the time spent painting, tearing out carpets on steps, and demo-ing basement walls really started to eat up time, since we can only work on the properties Friday evenings and Saturdays.  This past weekend, we planned to spend 8 hours max finishing last small items, and spent over 12 hours there. 

The exhaustion from all the time spent, and the constant drain on my account had me thinking of selling this sucker.  But I held it, and I think I found a renter.  But no more time spent working on houses.  I'll either pay more for a good one, or hire out all the work.