All Forum Posts by: Aaron Schrader

It's a pretty big, open ended question.  We don't know what knowledge base you are starting with- have you ever purchased or owned your own home?  You said fix and flip- do you know how to fix or would you use a contractor?  Not knowing any of your background or experience, I think the best advice is from @Eric Goldman and @Marc Ferguson, which is to partner with someone and educate yourself.  If you could go to a meet up, talk and meet and just offer to be of value to someone by helping them out (maybe you know a good "drywall guy" for the person doing a fix and you connect them, or maybe you know someone selling a crappy house that an investor could fix and flip) you'll be able to team up with people and start moving in a direction.  And then when you aren't helping someone out, read, listen, and read!  As you build your knowledge base your confidence will grow with it, and then you'll get a feeling for when you should or could step out on your own.

I've seen two different people use RTA Cabinet store online.  One guy I helped install and the other had done it all himself.  All in all they're a pretty decent cabinet for the money.  Some corners are cut (figuratively speaking, not literally) but once they are installed they're pretty good. One of the two applications I've seen them used in has 3 kids in the house and they see heavy use, and they hold up.  This company offers a flat panel/modern looking door.

This was a fun one to read through!  I'm with Scott Larson on this one with "Meh, paint it".  When you were first describing I was picturing my first home, which was a 1920 bungalow with all original white oak trim and in my head I was saying Nooooooo!  Don't touch it!  But yeah, after seeing the pictures, I'd paint it.  

The oak trim can be grainy sometimes when it gets painted, so I'd check with a reputable painter that knows painting oak, and maybe a grain fill on areas where it will be noticed like a stair handrail for example. 

Also, that brick, I'd be looking at painting it or whitewashing it or something too.

It's exciting to look at a cheap property and dream what it could be fixed up and cash flowing- but that's exactly what you have to do first is figure out what the cost is to fix it up and what it could cash flow if you're holding it, or what it would sell for if you are flipping.  I would get some calls in to some property managers and find out what rents are going for with house that size in that general area, and have a real estate agent help you with some sold comps on similar homes in the area so you can get some idea of what it could sell for.  If you miss this one, don't fret, there will be others.  But if you do your homework ahead of time then you are ready to strike when the deal shows up and when you see it, you'll know it.  That takes time at the front, knowing and understanding rents, sales prices and as much as you can even construction costs.  

Maybe you could create a spreadsheet that has some plumbing/other construction quotes and some "what if" parameters- such as "if I found a house that has 2 bed/1 bath + kitchen/hot water heater, generally how much would it cost the plumb the whole house with new copper/PEX and a water heater".  If that cost was say... $4000, then you would know that whenever you run into a house that size with plumbing issues, you'll be at a max $4000 to get the whole thing redone, and you can figure that into your costs quick and easy.  If it's less than that, and only an issue with the kitchen, then you wind up with extra padding in your numbers that works in your favor.  It's a very conservative way to run numbers, but it would get you started.  

Make sure you have your finances lined up and ready to go too!

Here's something I'm doing in a rental of mine and it looks way better than it sounds: PVC trim.  Home stores sell it and it is more expensive than standard wood or MDF trims.  It comes in white and white.  Maybe something else but all I have found is white.  It is in standard sizes like 1x4 so it has a pretty neutral look and traditional but it is quite tough, you don't have to paint it, and it you can wipe it off easily.  If something scratches it, it's white all the way through so you don't really notice it.  I think that beat up trim is one of the things that makes a house look worn out and tired and it's very tedious to re-do, so I like this option.

As for appliances, counters and all that, I'd consider what that area is and what you might get for rents?  If you have cheap finishes but the place is a nicer area, then those don't really line up.  Corian is a tough but spendy option for counters.  I think it's around the price of natural stone.  Personally I'd keep the appliances if they are working.  Replace them as they age out.  But if the colors are awful then that's another consideration.  

Regarding the popcorn ceilings, if they haven't been painted you can spray them with water and use a drywall knife and it'll peel right off.  If you have multiple layers of paint on it...have fun.  I had this on a house and I just put the tongue and groove boards over it and painted it.  Chalk line the rafter locations and nail it on.  Family Handyman had an article on this a while ago too.  It looked awesome and I didn't have to deal with it.  My drywall guy said he would have had to hang new drywall on it as the popcorn was that cemented on from the paint.

Hey there send me a DM, I'm in the Northern Hills.

Not sure if you got this resolved or not, but highly used wood surfaces like a floor or butcher block counters and the like are going to have all kinds of dirt, oils or in this case even wax.  If you strip the floors down (de-wax) that should take care of the build up on the sander paper.  Even then you may run into a section of dirty floor that loads the paper up.  I've installed my own wood floors and those of paying customers.  That sander you are using is awesome, I've used both the drum and the orbital type you have in the picture.  The drums work well and do a lot of work quickly, but they are VERY easy to leave drum-width dips in the wood floor.  I would avoid using the drum in your case, it is too easy to leave those dips.  The sander in the picture is maybe a little slower, but it has a lot more forgiveness for inexperience (if you are inexperienced).  Additionally, if you are using a finish paper (like 120 or 150 grit) consider going to a lower grit to avoid loading it up as quickly.

If I could nerd out for a sec...like Patricia Steiner said, stain works by absorbing into the wood.  But there's a bit more to it than that.  It's about the molecule size, and stain that has bigger pigment size won't penetrate the wood grain.  So a stain like gel stain will mask the grain, as it sits on top and doesn't penetrate.  It looks like that was a pretty thick application of whatever it was they put on, and then if they put a floor grade poly on top of that, you've gotta get them back there and do a sand/refinish.  But, as it is thick and hopefully didn't penetrate the wood too much, hopefully they don't have to sand IN to the wood and can sand just enough to get the paint (stain) off.  

Separately, If you know the wood type, you can get a couple pieces of that wood floor from a wood floor supplier and run some test stains on the scraps.  That way you can head this off before it happens.  

1) there's a roof pitch gauge on the App Store that'll tell you your roof pitch quick and easy.

2) I'm assuming that by zonal you mean a mini split or ductless system.  I had one at a previous home in Bend (about 3 hrs from you) I lived in and I loved it.  AC room by room, and individual heat room by room.  If the house were to be empty you can turn off living room heat but keep the kitchen heat going for the plumbing, for example.  The compressor units for mini splits are awesome- quiet, power savvy, and small, you can tuck them in and hide the easily.  

3) I'm not HVAC experienced, other than casual interest, but I've seen on This Old House the installation of smaller 4" ducts that run to a smaller room "port" that is circular, instead of a big vented rectangle.  

I think a bigger question to the wires lasting that long (I think today's wiring can last just fine without use but that's just a guess) is did a rat/trash panda/etc chew any wiring?  Did any water intrusion happen in those 15 years that might have compromised something like an electrical panel?  I have a property I'm rehabbing right now and because it's empty I pay a higher insurance rate.  The unoccupied status in the insurer's eyes lends itself to have a problem happen undetected, like a water leak.  So, like Eric James posted, if it's been vacant 15 years the electric may be of lesser concern.  But do your research and get that book mentioned above!