All Forum Posts by: Jody Schnurrenberger

Great timing!  I'm about to look at a low income rental when I go home this weekend.  (Gee, I've been gone from there almost 15 years now and I still call it home.  lol)  It's $25k, but boarded up and he doesn't even keep it locked (so he said to just take a look whenever I want).  That scares me, but it's so cheap.  I'm sure it would need a lot of work and I have no intention of paying that much.  But I spoke to a rental company that handles Section 8 and they said this would be a good Section 8 rental.  They said I'd probably get about $600/mo.  It would, assuming my repair estimates were accurate and he agreed to my low ball price, be my best cash flowing property.  Crazy.  

I'm closing on a much better property next week, thus why I'll be home.  But I thought I'd check this property out while I was there.  The PM said they tend to have long term tenants and they only trash the place "ocassionally."  The biggest problem (aside from the horrors I might find in the renovation) is that they don't raise the rent until the tenant moves.  I'm not sure if this is a Section 8 rule or the PMs.  Thanks for having this post right now.  :-)

It's not exactly what I wish I know, but what I'm glad my agent knew.  I had a home inspection done before I decided to sell.  (It isn't on the market yet, but will be probably next month.)  I had planned to really spruce the place up and sell it for top dollar.  I knew it would be expensive because most of the house was original to 1960, but I was going to do it.  Then I got the inspection report (which my agent had recommended I get done).  It was way worse than expected and we have decided to sell it as-is.  It's just as well.  I need to sell it and if I made it beautiful again, I'd never want to sell it.  I still love that house, but I need to let it go (and hope it doesn't come back to me--Hahahaha).

@Greg Parker, thanks for the idea!  It's smart stuff like that that makes me so happy I started this thread.  :-D

@Helen Kirk, a rat skeleton???  I'm not sure whether to find that horrible or hilarious (since it wasn't me).  ;-)  I like the idea of tiling inside with some cheap spare tiles because someone was recommending I learn to do tile work, but I'm scared of messing it up.  But if I did it inside the cabinet, if I messed up, it wouldn't matter.  lol  And then I'd know whether I like it well enough and I was good enough at it to try and do a real job like a backsplash.  :-)

@Greg Smith, interesting observation.  I didn't know this.  Thanks for the info!

@Dave Van Horn, I totally agree with the lights and counters.  And I'd love to put in floor heating in the bathroom, at least.  I lived in Korea and loved the heated floors!  (Except I learned not to set a candle on the floor without anything under it.  lol)  How do you decide if floor heating is applicable?  I do rentals, so it won't be for me, but just wondering.  :-)  When you say updated doors, do you mean replacing the interior doors with ones that have...I can't think of the official word, but squares and rectangles making it look sort of like they have moulding on them?  Tell me more about your glass block and curved walls that you do.  Sounds interesting.

@Erin Caldwell, thanks for the link!  I love when folks include the link so I can see what they mean.  :-)  That's a lovely pattern.  Good choice!

@Erin Caldwell, you don't have a lot of comments, so I'm wondering if you're new.  If so, WELCOME!  :-D

Yes, cleaning is a huge deal, for sure.  

Hexagon backsplash?  Cool!  I'm still scared of tiling.  You say it's relatively easy to DIY.  Hmmm...maybe I'll look into it when I move to investing in Raleigh.  I don't have trusted contractors and such there, so it's a great place to learn to do more myself.  Right now I'm just comfortable with basic things like replacing a faucet or light fixture.  Tiling seems like a big deal to me, but thanks for the encouragement!  I'll check out some YouTube videos and see what I think.  :-D  Fyi, in case you didn't see it, someone on here recommended Fusion grout.  I looked it up and I agree.  I want Fusion grout in my rentals.  :-)

I'm glad you like the thread.  I'm learning a lot from it.  :-D

@Pat L., ah, from the pic, it looked like it was flush to the wall.  Do you mind posting a link to those pantries you install?  They're really nice!

Those nicotine stains are unreal!  Holy cow!  Disgusting!  I'm surprised it ONLY took you 26 days!  Crazy!  But great job on the numbers there!  ;-)

@Mindy Jensen, I agree that labeling the electrical panel should be law!  I do it in all my properties.

So you just cut out a bit of drywall and install another outlet?  If you put in 2 outlets next to each other, PLUS you put in outlets every 4 feet instead of every 8 feet, that means you have 4 times the regular number of outlets in your rooms?  Wow!  Exotic!  lol

Allowing for 2 rolls of toilet paper to be on a roll is probably a Godsend to the mother in the house.  Hahaha!

My eyes are being opened to the idea of replacing an old water heater BEFORE it fails.  I hadn't planned to do that previously, but you're not the only one who does.  I was looking at on-demand water heaters and they aren't nearly as expensive as I thought.  Do you have an opinion on them?  They seem like a better option to me.

I really like that hallway LED nightlight outlet idea!  I didn't know those existed.  (I'm really learning about a LOT of new...to me...things!)  I think I'd be okay with only 1 outlet in the hall because if there's no carpet, I don't know what they'd use it for anyway.  But I'm also thinking it might work well in the bathroom, but I'd definitely need a second outlet in there so that a girl can blow dry her hair while her curling or flat iron is heating up.  lol  

Thanks for the ideas!

@Christian Wathne, thanks for the picture!  That's great!  Do you do the work yourself?  I'd think putting in a window would be expensive.  About how much does that run you?  Do you even do it with a brick exterior?  (I'm thinking of the expense here.)  I really like that!

@Pat L., holy cow!  How did those tenants live like that?  Your before and after pics are like what we see on TV.  lol  Thanks for the pic of your pantry.  That wasn't what I was picturing, so this helps a lot.  So you just go into the wall and the pantry is the depth of the wall?  Am I understanding that right?  What a neat idea!  Dumb question, as I've never ripped out a wall (though thinking about it on a big renovation I'm planning for this time next year) , but how deep does your pantry end up being if it's wall deep?  Thanks again for the picture!  that really helped me understand what you meant.

@Jimmy Watts, I'm afraid of smart home technology in my rentals.  I don't know enough to be able to use them myself and have no faith in my PM's skills either.  lol  I would be afraid we wouldn't be able to "lock out" the old tenants and only allow the newest one in.  Yikes!  And, of course, they can be hacked.  I just don't know enough to feel comfortable with them.  Programmable, on the other hand, is great, IMO.  :-)

@Sam Shueh, it's a very good thing I'm not in YOUR area.  I had to look up CAT5e.  I would NOT do well there.  lol  Good for you if you can keep up with all that stuff.  I thought I was awesome for wanting to put in the USB outlets.  lol