All Forum Posts by: John Lee

The house I'm buying is about 1200 sf 3 beds 1 bath. Termite infested and multiple diy issues from previous owner.

The scope of work can be summarized as

1. Landscape: trim tree away from the property

2. Roof shingle repair, install hurricane strap and insulated the roof ( the roof had about 5- 8 years left)

3. Front porch beam, columns, railing replace. 

4. Small stucco repair and exterior paint

5. Replace 8 doors, install weatherstripping in the entry door, repair windows hardware and window trim

6. Remove structure wall between kitchen and living room

7. Remodel kitchen with cabinets and new appliances

8. Remodel bathroom

9. install about 900 sf laminate flooring. (seem to be more durable than hardwood and get the height closer to the kitchen tile)

10. New water heater

11. Re pipe galvanized plumbing

12. New electrical to get it up to code (1 cloth wiring, mismatch breaker, couple oversize breaker, new wire, conduits for water heater line)

13. New gutter

14. Interior paint

5 pages scope of work

Things I can delay: Remove structure wall, exterior paint, tree trimming hurricane strap and insulation.

This seem more like a full rehab than cosmetic rehab that I initially though. Is the scope of work good enough to talk to contractors?

this is a property I'm currently under contract to brrr. it's above ground with craw space access to the plumbing. The current bathroom need to rehab. The inspection report indicate there was previously leak that had dried up, not sure If I had to rip out the subfloor. No active leak was found during the inspection

 The soilstack is in the wall in the bedroom closet. I figure since I want to add the bathroom right next to the only bathroom in the house it wouldn't be much trouble for plumbing. And since I had to take out the galvanized pipe. might as well reconfigure and add another bathroom pipe. I don't have any knowledge of construction

 What do you mean by stack's location?

 The void space is currently the bathroom closet and bedroom closet. Laundry room is in the kitchen and connected to the outside, wouldn't it odd to have 2 shared bathroom? Other than the added cost of removing wall and framing, is there a really different between add bathroom in the closet vs bathroom in the laundry. (the laundry is on concrete whereas the bathroom is on wood frame)

Original Floor Plan

My vision

If I moved the wall for the closet out a little I can add a 5x7 bathroom to to the house. But I spoke to 2 GCs and they both want to build addition in the back. Should I get other GC opinion or get architects opinion?

This is a rental so I'm only looking to add a bathroom if the cost is below 10k. Otherwise I'm just going to keep the floor plan as is and rent it out. One GC said the cost to add a bathroom in the back is 20-25k. The other GC want to build a master bed and bath in the back, or a master bed w/bath and a bedroom in the back, and remove the room next to the kitchen

I and my wife never claimed homestead exemption, if my brother live in one of my rental that rent by the room. If he doesn't require to pay rent to me, can I claim homestead exemption for the property?

If I cannot claim homestead, can I add him to the title to claim homestead? Will this affect my ability to refinance later?

I just got a buy and hold property with 3 bed and 1 bath, 1200 sf that only need cosmetic rehab (paint, new hardware and fixture, refinish wood floor, remove a wall (may be a load bearing wall) to connect living room to kitchen). And I can rent it out quickly.

Or to future proof, I can cough up the money to convert the living into master bed, add a bathroom since it next to kitchen plumbing (maybe?). demo the small bed room and convert it to living are next to the kitchen. Or base on the rough layout from memories add a bathroom in the master bedroom?

The extra bathroom might not bring a lot or any rent increase. But it wouldn't hurt the sale price or refinance appraisal later.

Also should I arrange home inspection and contractors come estimate on the same day since I got access to the property?

She left the time for acceptance blank. She said the offer is on hold as the bank is considering a better offer

I submitted an offer with a listing agent for a bank reo property. I did not hear back from the agent or the bank. the property went under contract. I guess their offer failed through, the property is back on the market. I decided to get my own agent and submit a different offer, the agent said my offer cannot be submitted because there is already an offer with other agent. Did I just pissed off both agent? What is my option if i still want the property?