All Forum Posts by: John Baker

@John Baker absolutely. If you can get one for the right price, do a nice rehab without breaking the bank, refi and rent for a few years you'll likely make more reselling if you rehab again (adding bathrooms, finishing basement and adding HVAC) after renting it out for 5-10 years. ARV will be higher plus you'll already have the equity + rental income. I'm a big fan of the BRRR->Flip as a long term strategy for such areas.

For the right price, I think it absolutely makes sense.

Keep in mind the further south and west you go the closer you are to two of the most used highways in Philly, 76 and 95. 

I was a little luckier in my timing when I started my RE investing career.  It was the early 2000's and there were ton's of houses that just needed lots of cosmetic work.  As the RE market picked up headed towards 2007/2008 (and the TV shows started coming out) the deals were harder and I had to cut my teeth doing houses that were increasingly more difficult.  During those intervening years, I bought a big building to use as my shop, started a GC business and hired a full time crew.  That was all before I ever did my first gut and remodel.

Doing one out of the gate is a big job.  You will get there, take your time, visit the site very regularly and make very concrete plans for how you want things to be in the end.  Making changes half way through will be costly.  Don't be scared to "offend" someone that is working for you.  Buy books on how to do things like plumbing, and wiring, don't rely on youtube videos.  You don't have to do the work, but you should be able to recognize if someone you're paying is taking a lot of shortcuts.  

Some of the mistakes I have made over the years:

Replaced the sewer line and cheaped out on replacing the water line at the same time.  Ended up having to dig up the brand new sidewalk.

Installed plumbing vents through the roof and didn't know how to properly tie that all into the roof.  Sucks to rip out all your new drywall.

Bought a house and after gutting it discovered that the 2 story addition was falling off....in the middle of winter and a snowstorm.

Had my copper stolen by a neighbors kid that was a junky....3 times.

Hung and finished all the drywall in a house before I practiced like crazy and got good at it.  It came out absolutely horrible.  Used so much joint compound the cabinets didn't fit when it was all done.  Plus I think it took me about a month to do it.

Not knowing what a banks underwriter will look for when inspecting a house.  Having to rip open the ceiling in a brand new bathroom to install a vent fan before settlement stinks.

Cheaping out on windows..if in doubt...just replace them.  It's a HUGE pain after everything is finished.

Installing jaccuzi tubs, total waste of money.

Sprayed a house before installing windows.  Sounded like a good idea, until I had to pay to get a neighbors car detailed.

I'm sure the list  goes on.  Actually there should be a thread on rehab mistakes.

@John Baker we can't really specialize in everything, because then we would specialize in nothing... 

We specialize in managing the project, from the schedules, budgets, materials, scopes, quality assurance, etc. We basically represent you on the project to make sure your goals are being hit. 

@John Baker I don't see anything for permits, which is fine but can be a bear if you get a Stop Work order. It's expensive and time consuming to come back from that. 

Definitely move Siding and Windows to right after demo. You addressed roof but that should definitely be early on, especially this time of year. I would add that any concrete work should be done before December otherwise you might not get a window until March (dramatic, but definitely much harder to get concrete guys working in the winter since they usually have seasonal layoffs). 

Bathroom/tile should happen after/concurrently with drywall. 

Paint after trim, but before floor- lets you rip through with a sprayer like @Paul S. said and not have to mask anything off (except windows). 

As for @Paul S.' comment about doing electrical/plumbing yourself, be super careful here unless you have a lot of experience. If the building burns down in an electrical fire you could theoretically be liable. I prefer to leave the specialty work to the specialists. Framing is also a specialty and if done incorrectly on structural parts can be a huge risk. Partition walls are fine as long as they are straight, plumb, and you have a stud at least every 16" on center. Keep in mind clearances for toilets and such. If any of those words don't make sense to you, either study a lot, or hire it out.

Good luck! Let us know if there is anything we can do to help! 

Biggest bang for your time is doing your own plumbing and electric. 

Next would be framing.  If you have never done it, get a good book.  There are some details to framing that will make your life miserable later if not done properly (like proper inside corners or framing doorways that don't match prehung doors).

After drywall is done, either buy a sprayer and do it yourself or hire someone (descent sprayer is about $500).  Spray the entire house with primer (I like to tint the primer slightly).  Next day spray ceilings flat white, spray trim gloss white.  Then do the walls yourself with a brush and rollers.

Give yourself some extra time before hanging drywall.  A drywall crew will rock over absolutely everything.  If something is accidentally unfinished, you're going to be cutting open your brand new walls to fix it.

You can also save some money doing your own tile and finishing work like installing cabinets and what have you.

It really depends on your skill level and how comfortable you are with the work.

Unless its just 1 or 2 rooms I always hire out; Demo, HVAC, Drywall hanging and finishing, Floor refinishing, Carpeting, Roofing and Brick pointing or larger masonry jobs.