All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Rysdam

Your state/federal taxes are based on your personal income. They aren't a "property" expense but a personal one.

I use a lot of vinyl plank in my building. I find that the scratches cover nicely with a marker. Avoid Berber carpet if you allow pets. One snag and they can take out an entire room. Amazing how many people think it's cute that their cat is playing with that piece of carpet string!

If you are unable to track the water then maybe just pay the bill yourself and reflect it in rent rates. It's hard to decide who uses more water. Having to explain the dividing of it to potential tenants might turn them away, thinking they are paying for someone else's water usage. Some people take baths every day, while others will shower every other day. I'm not sure if they have washers and dryers on site, but that can be really different too.

I'd go with the 1 bedroom if you can swing it. Having a bedroom door to shut when company comes is very desirable. Plus more walls = more places to put furniture.

If I were her I'd just move. My finished basement just flooded for the 3rd time in the 3 years we've lived here. It floods because we get enormous amounts of rain all at one time. Plus this time it got warm quickly and melted feet of snow in a couple of days. Nature at its best. For me it's extra space and we clean it up, but if we actually had to live in the basement I'd move.
I guess my answer is to move. Doesn't really matter why it happens. It's either a bad basement or a flood prone area. If it's unlivable she can get out of her lease.

Does anyone have any creative concrete flooring solutions to share? My own basement has been flooded/leaked 3 times in the 3 years we have been here due to local flooding (Southwest MN). We fix where the flood happened and then it happens differently. Our whole town has flooding right now and our flooded yard turned our window well into a storm drain right into our finished basement. We just pulled up all the laminate and dried it out. We'll be reinforcing yard drainage and sealing up around the well better to not allow the overflow in the future. We have decided to just finish the concrete and be done with the mess. It's DryLocked and we are thinking of painting it and then finishing it with one of those high gloss sealants. Any other ideas out there? We want it to look great but don't want to take any more hits to the budget.  Thanks :)

Does anyone have any creative concrete flooring solutions to share? My own basement has been flooded/leaked 3 times in the 3 years we have been here due to local flooding (Southwest MN). We fix where the flood happened and then it happens differently. Our whole town has flooding right now and our flooded yard turned our window well into a storm drain right into our finished basement. We just pulled up all the laminate and dried it out. We'll be reinforcing yard drainage and sealing up around the well better to not allow the overflow in the future. We have decided to just finish the concrete and be done with the mess. It's DryLocked and we are thinking of painting it and then finishing it with one of those high gloss sealants. Any other ideas out there? We want it to look great but don't want to take any more hits to the budget.  Thanks :)

I think it depends on the size of the house and number of bedrooms you already have. It would also depend on windows. Would you have to put egress windows in or dig window wells? That can get expensive. We aren't finishing the basement of the house that we are flipping right now because it already has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, along with a small room off of the living room. I don't think additional living space is needed. I also don't think we would recoup our costs because it would make it a more expensive home for the area that it's in.

I think it really depends on how much work you are doing yourself and how much you are subbing out. I sub out HVAC and electrical. I know I can get a new furnace and ac installed here for $6000. I know that finishing a half-assed electrical update is going to cost me about $4000. That's the prices in my market. Your market might be much higher. 

As far as the rest it's just deciding what I want in the house and pricing it out online or in store. It also varies by the market that I'm in. Laminate or quartz?? Farmhouse or fancy?? I have a notebook that I take through each property and write down everything I need to get done. I sketch out the room and add the measurements. Then I go home and start my research. After you've done a few of them you just know what things cost.  

Always be sure to add a little for overages and unexpected things. Our current flip ended up having plywood under the sheetrock. Demo was horrible! Bathroom tile was GLUED to the plywood subfloor. Hardwood floors under the carpet were not able to be salvaged (we weren't counting on that anyways). Things can add up, but if you end up with things like this you can always make adjustments as you go along to help recoup the costs.

How much is the fix? Sometimes fences are put in wrong and don't have any posts in cement. Might be easier than you think, and worth it. Also, to dress up the ugly posts, put plant hangers on them and hang baskets or put solar lights on them :) Good luck :)