All Forum Posts by: David Mathews

@Jana Landreneau

Jey Jana. I searched Lake Charles in the forums and saw your post. I know it's 5 months old but welcome.LOL I'm curious, how have your efforts produced since you posted your original question?

@Jill Haselman

I've done it several times. I've had great luck with it. I usually paint mine white though. I've done kitchen islands as well. I usually paint them something "different". Meaning I'll paint them as if they're an accent piece. It turns out nice against the white wall cabinets.

Of course its difficult to get the exact measurements with used cabinets but if you're painting it's pretty easy to get them close then rip a filler stile where needed. Once painted only you will know what you had to do to make it work. Another thing I e done is pair a used set of cabinets with the home's original set. To make them match I had a cabinet shop build a few doors that matched the "new" used cabinets I added to the kitchen. Again, once painted they all went together.

@John Bell congratulates on the good news about the baby! Congrats on your first deal as well. Taking action sure is exciting isn't it? In my opinion it's what keeps so many people out of this biz. They know there is financial security to be had but they just can't bring themselves to make that leap. You did it!

Now... how to increase revenue on that rental? It looks like you're in Baytown. Very similar to our market here in Lake Charles. I would think you're pretty much at your max on such a small place. There are a lot of naysayers about all bills paid and furnished but being surrounded with so much petrochemical industry I have had great luck doing just that over the past year. The renters (construction workers following plant projects) tend to only stay around the 6 month range is the downside but they are paying significantly higher rents. I haven't had any lapses during tenant move outs and tenant move ins yet. And they have been willing to forfeit their deposits every time so I've actually made more with turnover. My 14 year old daughter LOVES decorating! Fortunately she loves garage sales too. So its something we do together. Shop at garage sales, Facebook marketplace, and craigslist together then set the smaller rentals up almost like a hotel room. We are not buying junk though. They are set up nicely with pictures on the wall and everything. All in all I'll spend about $500 -$600 in setting up the rental. I have a 2bed 1bath on piers that was renting for $1000. We furnished and advertised all bills paid and now it rents for $1600. The utilities (elect, gas, water) haven't been over $175/month yet even in the summer. Significantly less in the winter. I pay the neighbor $120/mon to take care of the yard.(that's aprox every 10 days at $40/cut). All of which I wouldn't have to do with a traditional rental but all said and done it's making me around $300/mon more than I would a traditional rental. In essence these out of town workers are paying for convenience.

@Walter Lee Bandy Jr om sure it's going to look great. I do like gray. I am currently painting the interior of my home and using a lot of grays.

@Walter Lee Bandy Jr I bought my 1st investment property in 2015 and had this same question. I scoured and scoured the web looking for at that time. I now have 8 doors. The colors I settled on and the advise I received seems to be working wonderful for me. There hasn't been a single person not impressed with how well my units have turned out.

Advice I have followed:

Paint all of your units, all rooms in every unit, the same color on the interior. You will always have extra touch up paint on hand if needed between tenants. You never have to worry about matching and it will always be interchangeable between any rental you havle.

Save effort, paint, and money by painting the ceiling with white primer. No paint. I usually do 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Pro Block. Close equivalent to latex kiltz. It covers well, seals, and is a very flat finish.

Primer on the wall I use Sherwin Williams Pro Block and have them tint it (for free) so it is very close to my wall paint color.

The wall color I consistently came across while researching was Sherwin Williams Navajo White so that's what I settled on. Don't let the name fool you. It's not white. More of a light tan. Every potential tenant that looks at my places LOVE it.

For all trim I use Sherwin Williams Pure White. It is a base color that doesn't need to be tinted so you can pick it up and be ready to go at any time. It makes the contrast between wall and trim really look clean! On a couple of my recent rentals I decided to step out of the norm and paint my interior doors black. I had a lot of people tell me NO NO NO!!! LOL But I experimented anyway and it gave my apartments a ver modern appeal. They were believes after that! When paired with black and stainless appliances it looks spectacular! If I knew how to post pics on her I would. You'll notice I used all Sherwin Williams. I have no affiliation with them. I just know its quality paint & I liked the fact they keep all of my color & rental information in the computer. Plus I could call ahead any time to have them mix up what I needed. Also being a landlord I was able to receive quite a discount. You have to ask them about it though.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

@Artem Belayev Hello. I realize this post is a couple years old but I'm curious the outcome? Have you gained any insight on this strategy? I ask because I recently did this but I'm still a bit under the radar as far as zoning goes. A little info on my project: I bought a compartmentalized large SFR home that the previous owners already had working like a triplex. They were living in the main portion, renting out what was once the pool house (attached) and a Studio upstairs. After purchasing I converted the already enclosed garage into a one bed one bath and rented it out. Of course I am offering all bills paid bc of one meter but currently all four units are rented and the place is making a killing! So now I have two dilemmas. 1st I am starting to get nervous of what would happen if the city stepped in and shut that operation down. Secondly it seems to be a great strategy given the amount of income this one property is drawing in. Since the rehab I have been looking at similar properties and have located a few in my area. Is there a way to go about doing this legally?

@Paolo Ruggieri 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

@Lisa Wolff curious.... what do they do?

@Mike M. Nina P's always has good gumbo. Can't go wrong with Chastain's either. Ate there last night. Oysters on a half shell and med-rare ribeye topped with lump crab. Lastly, on your way back through make sure you stop at Darrell's just off I-210 for a Darrell's Special.(w/jalapeno mayo) I'm not a big poboy type of guy but I can guarantee it'll be the best sloppiest sandwich you've ever had!