Quote from @Jason Deangelis:
Hello BP community! I am days away from closing on my second rental property and have a question about bringing the most equity to my new fixer upper while being budget friendly.
I know kitchen & baths for sure, but id love to hear a little more in detail about the things made a bang for your buck with. Cant wait to hear the responses!!!
Ok, I'll take a stab at the "little more in detail" part.
Kitchens
* Appliances - Look for "scratch and dent" stores or appliances. Many big box stores (HD, Lowes, Best Buy, Amazon, etc) get returns and can't resell them as new, so they often have alternative channels they route those products to. Some have their own stores and others sell to secondary buyers at a steep discount. And those secondary buyers have their own stores. I have bought many appliances this way, including some that I personally used. Example, I recently bought a professional 48inch free standing range for $6,600, which sells for around $9,500 new. And this was a new, never used unit, with a dented side panel. I paid a little $100 for them to order a new side panel and change it for me. TIP- don't buy a $6k range, unless it is for a high end rental, mine is for a higher end rehab. Also, check on Craigslist, ebay, Amazon, Nextdoor, Facebook marketplace, and other local buy/sell apps for deals
* Cabinets - If you are going to rehab the kitchen and bathrooms, look for RTA (ready-to-assemble) cabinets. In my experience they are made with plywood boxes and solid doors, with no mdf. They also have soft-close doors/drawers and are of reasonable quality. It's better if you can find a local store which deals directly with the manufacturer. Where I am at, I can deal directly with the manufacturer, since we are near a main port. Typically, they come from China, so there may be some current supply issues (I don't know at the moment). I used to be get cabinets for an entire typical size kitchen, for around $2000, but, I am sure that has changed drastically now. They also have bath vanities. You can also check out Ikea, they have some interesting stuff and I have seen Ikea kitchens in million dollar houses.
* Countertops - Same as above, look for pre-fab solid surface (granite or composite) countertops. They come in standard 24 inch depths with the edging pre-done (typically a bullnose or square edge). So, when you plan on the new kitchen, make sure to plan on just straight line of cabinets and counters, with 90 degree turns. If you have to do 45 degree or rounded counters or other non-standard shapes and sizes, then the fabrication is going to cost more and the end result (additional renter appeal) won't be worth the additional money. I used to be able to get pre-fab granite pieces for as low as $85 per 8 foot piece, and then fabricators would charge $180/piece to cut/grind them install. I could do a whole house for around $1,500 (including materials). Ok, yes, those were the good 'ol days, so things are different now. But the most recent counters I bought for my personal rebuild, was in 2019. They were $195 and $245 per each 9 ft piece for good quality composite (i.e. Silestone, Quartz, Caeserstone, etc) the kitchen and bathrooms. I don't remember what I paid for the install though.
* Bathrooms - You may want to try and find some pre-fab vanities, which include the cabinets and the counter and sink. They may be less expensive and good quality and install would easier and/or cheaper.
* Fixtures - look up all the online and local sales channels I listed above, but keep in mind that chrome is probably the most common and least expensive finish. So, if you don't need brushed nickel, flat black, for a specific design outcome, etc, just do chrome.
I like putting in a handheld shower head, in the bath/showers, then it can work for all heights and is easy to change, if need be. Also, it's easy to use for cleaning the tub/shower and maybe the tenants will do it. Either with or without a sliding shower bar. The negative with the shower bar, is someone can break it or have a false sense of security reaching for it, for stability.
* Backsplash - Look at tile closeouts. You may find some at HD, Lowes, other stores, that just need to get rid of this inventory. We recently got some natural stone mosaic for our backsplash at around $.99/ft, as a closeout.
* Tile - If you can use a natural stone for the shower/bath surround, you may be able to save money and just grind/sand the end down to bullnose or rounded, instead of having to buy special bullnose pieces or down angles (2 bullnosed perpendicular sides), which are more expensive then the field tile. Or, you can just get metal edging to end the tile. Also, I like building inset niches in the bath/showers for soap and hair products etc.
OK, that's all I got for now.
