All Forum Posts by: Steven Maduro

@Mark H. you have a real how to get it done 101 in this post
I will look at this often as I am doing my renovations on my properties.

great advice and

@Cheryl C.

Thinking is what I feel in my heart
give people something they can be proud to call home
and pick tenants that can appreciate the details.
dont break the bank but a couple of well thought withdrawls should do the trick.

Actually his 1,700 per month apartments are section 8 3bdrm apts
they are in the hood not the hoodiest parts of the hood but still the hood
Jamaica Queens nyc

so his thing is commercial carpet as a flooring choice
he tiles the floor in the kitchen and bathroom himself.
and he puts in the cheapest stuff he can as far as sinks counters cabinets.

my area is georgia atlanta near moorehouse and Spellman
a sketchy neighborhood but I am on a decent block within the sketchiness.

like you said Lynn I am going to have to discover what works.

I most likely will have to rent to section 8 or students and therefore my model should be low cost and durable. (but cant I still add some pop within these parameters?)

I hope it doesent take too long to find the winning formula

I ran into a guy who works for a few complexes
he seems to have a formula that works. for this region
I may just listen to him and follow his advice verbatim

very sobering I havent factored in the whole expense and operating budget

but I have found that you should bank the first year of each unit
and keep that in escrow.

but the whole 50% is really new to me.
but enlightening

make sure you dont let tenants bring in any major appliances without prior approval.
I had my first tenant buy a used deep freezer, and used washer and dryer
they were full of roaches and he never told me
so he let them fester for 6 mos by the time I found out they had taken a strong hold and I am not sure I will ever get rid of them.

I cant over emphasize fix the small things as they come up
there will always be more things to fix later
you dont want them piling up.

I was talking to a friend of mine who has been renting apartments for about 10 years. his advice to me was just clean the apartment really well
everything is commercial grade carpet and builder grade fixtures and counters vanites,etc

me being somewhat of an artist wanted to make the apartment a little hgtv worthy.

He disagreed completely citing a story of some tenants that used an iron to burn marks in his carpets in every room

and poured cement down his drains
as well as took a hammer to all the tile in the bathrooms

ok horror tenants aside/

my argument to putting niceties in the rental is to keep the rental rented,

with the housing market the way it is there are a lot of rentals to chooose from

what makes yours special I am not saying buy marble counter tops but maybe corian
perhaps go to ikea and get a floating vanity
instead of a pre purchased tub surround tile with 12x12 make your bathrooms look like a 4 star hotel or at least a three star.

why?
so you can find good tenants quickly

my friend had his apartment vacant for three months
at 1,700 per month he lost a lot of income
if that happens twice in five years
he lost more than the spruce ups i mentioned.

what do you guys think?

No hardwood floors in the duplex
I do like laminate for the look.
the good laminate which is about 12mm is very very durable.
the only problem is that it is not great with water
so if a ridiculous tenant spills a bucket on the floor and doesent immediately mop it up
(Warpage) as happened in my first rental. I dont even know what sort of flooring it was fortunately the warping was confined to the kitchen all I need to do is tile the kitchen and it is a simple fix.

Laminate is definitely still in the running however
as is vinyl simply because this rental may just be a section 8 dwelling. we are talking about folks who will drag stuff accross the floor. kids. on kool aid. no joke. if you havent seen a kid hyped on kool aid then you just wont understand.

I would like it to be a higher end property but it is just not that type of neighborhood.

I was thinking that tiling would be the most durable and at the same time cost efficient as a DIY project.
the floors stand up to water traffic, dirt dragging.
periodic sealing is all that is needed to keep it water proof.

I am not sold on the tiling and I am certainly not looking forward to the labor involved in laying out a floor.

not to mention. Georgia is not really a tile state like texas is.
it may just be over kill and not appreciated.

my biggest concern is to give the place an edge in looks so I wont be vacant. in the long run

my question is if you were doing the work yourself and therefore could eliminate
installation costs, What would your flooring choice be?

I am new to this landlord thing
I am on my fourth property and its all sink or swim now.
My second property which is a newly acquired vacant, is a duplex
small 2bdrm apartments 500sqft each yes really small

I want to make up for the crampness and make it cozy
I was thinking because I can tile pretty well to tile the whole floor
a lot of work up front
but less effort on the back end.

tile replacement is rather easy as long as i keep a few extra boxes in the attic.
or crawl space.

as a compromise I can carpet the bedrooms and just tile everywhere else
the bathroom and kitchen already are tiled.

cost wise I dont think I am too much beyond good laminate or vinyl flooring
or my cheapest hardwood.

tile is only my choice because I think I will get a really nice look. which may attract a better quality tenant. I have tiled a few bathrooms before but never tackled a whole house I am sure it will take me at least a week.

laminate was my second choice
but i have already had a floor warp due to sitting under water for a little bit.

vinyl is now an option the labor is minimal
the look seems decent and the maintenance and durability is there

my only concern will i be losing those more savvy tenants?

fyi
the neighborhood is not the best.
but I was hoping to make my units like oasis's once the doors shut.

I wonder if using an underlayment wouldnt alleviate the issue of the imperfection of the sub floor

If it is something like seams in the plywood and extra barrier or cushion may just make the floor feel great.

I have two rentals I am getting ready and have to decide on flooring.

I am new to renting and have already faced warpage in the kitchen laminate floor in one of my properties.

I have a duplex which is no expensive house I want an upscale look without the risk of expensive repair.

the flooring with 12mm thickness is appealing although costly
the 4mm thickness concerns me

I plan on going through builder directs they have flooring from
.89 psf to 2.89 for the 12mm stuff.

I have never seen it once it is down so I dont know how good it looks