All Forum Posts by: Kristina Heimstaedt

I'd look at the zillow rental page. I'd develop a list and call them and you should quickly discover who has rented their property versus who has not. If you know the area, you'll know if a property rented quickly because of the location versus the upgrades. 

For Southern California, we use Home Depot pre fabricated cabinets and let the carpenter install them. We use quartz/granite, whatever is more available. Laminate flooring or vinyl. Slide in vanities from Home Depot typically. All new lighting. Neutral grayish tones on the wall. White subway tile in the bathroom with gray grout. It typically looks great and attracts an upper tier tenant without blowing the budget. 

Hopefully this helps. Best of luck!!!

Everyone is going to have a different opinion as to how to handle a situation. I can't necessarily speak for things in Atlanta. However, in California we have significant swings that you don't necessarily see in other states. As a result, this can dramatically impact your property taxes and eat into your bottom line. Because of this, we do the majority of our trading during the bottom of housing cycles. It also decreases agent fees and typically there are more opportunities. Yes, you may need to sell at a slightly discounted price, but there are a lot of expenses during transactions. If they're based on a sales price, if you can time things well, it can help manage your costs. 

All of this being said, that is our move as well: trade for more units and stay close. 

@Marcus Hendren For a flip, it's definitely your choice. No matter what it is, don't fight what you've got in there. Add a little flair while still staying neutral. As @Matt K. said, in come grays.

When it comes to rentals, we have picked out several (5-7 colors) that we like and would use in any property as they're all very neutral. My new methodology for empowering and personalizing for tenants is that before they move in and prior painting the property is on the agenda, I will test all the colors on several walls and let the tenant make the decision. The last time I did this, I sent the tenant just the names of the colors and what company they were from. She thought she was going to like one color and was convinced that it was going to be great. I told her that I was still going to put the colors up on the wall and send her pictures. Low and behold, the paint looked different in the property versus on pinterest so we went with another color (still from the approved 5-7 colors) and painted the property. Tenant is very happy because it feels personalized and I have a freshly painted unit that will look great when I go to market the property again for the next tenant. 

Sorry for the overkill, but just in case it becomes relevant, I figure it doesn't hurt.

@Frank Damico before getting someone else involved and committing to the deal, look over your inspection report with a general contractor. Be sure that you know what your rehab is going to cost.  If someone were coming to me in your situation, I would want to make sure that you knew your rehab costs down to a penny if you had never done this before. I would also ask why the downstairs needs to be rehabbed or vacant. 

Numbers don't lie. If the math doesn't add up, there is no shame in walking away in contrast to lying to yourself that it is magically going to work. Not trying to sound like a Debbie downer, but the bubble happened because people stopped doing math and got in because they were keeping up with the Jones's. Do your homework and you will be just fine especially when you can present your findings to your future partner!!!

@Joe P. @Charlie DiLisio If you need to ask, it's probably time to call the guy (aka the professional). I understand and appreciate the ease sheet vinyl, but the plank looks so good and looks just like wood. 

The ceramic is also an option. I personally don't like it as much not only because of the grout lines, but also because it is so much harder and has less give than anything else. If for whatever reason someone fell head first, I don't know that I would want to see the results of that on tile. Vinyl isn't drastically different, but it's got a little more give than tile. 

If you do this right, your friends will all think that you sprung for wood flooring in your basement.

@Jonathan Park typically it's within your disclosure period. The seller should disclose these items, but if you plan on remodeling the property and getting new tenants, you may not care about the estoppel. Still nice to have in case you want to do cash for keys though. I know we have offered to provide the entire security deposit returned to the tenant pending they move out by x date. You would be amazed how quickly people are willing to move with that knowledge that they could get all of their money back. 

Congratulations!!! Definitely comb over that inspection report when that comes in. That is definitely the place to be aggressive with the seller because that will help protect you against any cap ex issues especially as a Newbie. I had a client purchase a property and he thought that most of the remodel that he wanted to complete was going to be very simple. 2 months later, he's very happy in his new home, but the money going out the door despite the fact that he is living in his remodel is frustrating him a bit. 

Congratulations and keep plugging away!!!

To add to @David Halprin's point, vinyl is fantastic. Definitely make sure that your subfloor is level. Unless you get the higher quality vinyl, which has a base that helps it hold its shape, the vinyl will flex to the flooring below it. Meaning, you will have gaps and compression points that defeat the attractiveness and functionality of the flooring. 

Probably not the thing that I should be sharing, but I have definitely played beer pong on mine with lots of spills and we wiped it up and moved on like it never happened. Vinyl is as close to idiot proof flooring as you can find.

I wish we could say that we had an opening and I'm glad that you sent this out as I would love to have such a volume that I could have some space set aside for all of those who have been displaced for one reason or another. I'll keep working to be able to say yes to this every time one of these situations occurs. 

In the meantime, be safe and I wish you the best of luck.

I might structure the conversation as follows:

"Hi tenant. I hear your concerns about the drafty windows and x, y, z. I would love to help improve things. However, with the current rate of rent that you are at, I won't have accrued enough in the budget to apply these upgrades that you've requested. If we can adjust your rent, I can make these upgrades happen faster as I will have accrued more for just such occasions. I think a $200 increase bringing you to a grand total of x/month would allow me to make these upgrades by y date. Without the increase, I think we won't have enough set aside in the budget to make these upgrades until date z. I'll leave the decision up to you. Let me know what you decide."

I'm a huge fan of controlling the structure and allowing the tenant to make the decision. Once they've made the decision and they try to come back and complain, you get to say "I left the decision up to you". I have yet to have this not work. 

I'm sure this will go smoothly. Congrats on the new property!!!