All Forum Posts by: Joshua Black

I recently came from the flooring industry, so this is my opinion on the matter, based on what options are available today.

First, I would absolutely NEVER have real hardwood floors exposed in a rental where dogs are allowed, regardless of whether they're pine or Brazilian Teak.  The hardness (JANKA) of the wood is not the issue.  JANKA is impact resistance (density of the wood itself).  This doesn't mean it won't scratch.  Typically you have a stain, and a few layers of some type of polyurethane.  In all my years of flooring, I have yet to see any poly withstand large dogs running around and sliding on hardwood.  Not to mention that most pet stains will absorb right through the poly if not cleaned up right away.  In this instance, the hardwood will be permanently stained, and not even sanding will remove it.  Then the plank will need to be replaced, which adds material and labor expense.  Currently, I see ranges of $4-$8 per square foot for refinishing hardwood floors.  It is not recommended to try to refinish only damaged areas of the floor, as it is nearly impossible to unnoticeably blend those areas with the rest of the floor.  That said, here is my recommendation for flooring:

I would avoid laminate.  Although laminate is often very durable (AC rating of 4-5 is preferable) and many manufacturers have waterproof ratings, no laminate is truly waterproof.  If liquid gets down in to the fiberboard core of the laminate, that core will absorb the water and swell, causing pillowing/cupping of the visual layer, and possibly damage to the locking mechanism.

LVP (luxury vinyl plank) or LVT (luxury vinyl tile) is ideal in this case.  You want something with a 12-20mil wear layer, absolutely no less than 12mil.  Thickness of material should be no less than 4.5mm, and NO droplock (often labeled I4F or fold and tap) locking mechanisms.  Droplock locking mechanisms will walk apart at the ends, causing the planks to separate.  You do not want to have to keep going back to the house to put them back together every 6 months.  Angle/Angle (often labeled unilin, 2G, or Uniclic) is what you want.  Some good manufacturers are Shaw, Mannington, and Happy Feet.  All three companies use Angle/Angle locking mechanisms and have everything from 4.5mm 12mil budget products to 8mm 22mil high-end products.

Carpet:  Most decent carpet these days has pet stain and soiling warranties of at least 20 years.  Your best bets are Shaw for Nylon (typically more durable than polyester for super high traffic), and Dreamweaver for polyester (by far the best polyester carpet in terms of bang for your buck and stain resistance, but not quite as durable as Nylon.  Also less expensive than Nylon).  So I wouldn't be afraid of carpet the way I would've been 15 years ago.  Carpet is also less expensive than LVP/LVT in terms of installation and material cost.

How to have that conversation with your tenant?  Hard for me to say.  But hopefully this information on flooring helps.  If you have any flooring questions, feel free to message me!  Good luck, my friend!

Possibly a bluff to get you to make a higher offer?  I know everyone is and has been talking about a crash, but it really is hard to say.  I mean on a long enough timeline, yeah, you'll have crashes and bubbles, but it's so hard to say what will happen over the next couple years.

Meet Kevin on YouTube is awesome.  I haven't had a lot of time to visit his channel recently, but he's a very successful young real estate agent, flipper, and investor, who tells it like it is.  I've learned so much from his content.

I know a lot of people who have responded to this question are more qualified than I am, so I will only speak from what I've seen over the years.  My wife and I are from Ohio, and have been vacationing in Clearwater for decades.  It has grown tremendously from year to year, so I would say that the whole Tampa area would be a nice place to invest.  I think it also depends on what you plan to do with the property.  We rent an AirBNB on the beach from a gentleman who used to own his own successful dental practice, and now he does AirBNB full time.  He says he loves it and can't imagine doing anything else.  Anyway, just my two cents.  Best wishes in your search!

Immediate execution on a mediocre game plan is better than no execution on a perfect game plan.

It took me a very long time to learn this, and I still struggle with it to this day.  It is so easy to research, obsess, and try to get all your ducks in a row before executing, that we often fail to execute at all.  There is never a "perfect" time to execute on a plan.  The market, the economy, technology, the world... it is all constantly changing, so it is impossible to have the perfect plan.  I need to constantly remind myself that it is ok to fail, make mistakes, and look silly sometimes.  That's how you learn and grow... through experience and repetition.  If only I had known this fifteen years ago!

 Nathan is absolutely correct.  To add to what he said, it is also worth digging in to the businesses you are considering hiring to do the job.  Coming from the flooring industry recently, I've worked for nationally-owned, local standalone, and franchise operations.  Each had pros and cons like workmanship, quality and variety of products used, price, sales staff knowledge, customization options, etc.  A nationally-owned company can often beat the pricing of a franchise operation because they don't have to pay franchise fees.  However that lower price often comes with poor workmanship and cheaper materials.  But at the end of the day, if something gets messed up in flooring, it is rarely structural.  With plumbing, we're talking about water and gas.  These things can ruin a property, and even endanger lives, quite quickly.  Keep this in mind when comparing quotes.  Middle-of-the-road quotes are usually the safest route with these services, as the cheapest quotes often include less experienced tradesmen and lower-quality materials, and the most expensive quotes are often price gouges.