All Forum Posts by: Nas Zidane

Originally posted by @Nas Zidane:

Originally posted by @Theresa Harris:

These are all going to be expensive renos.  I like the layout of the third the best.  You have two bedrooms together and don't have to walk through any of them to get to another room.  the way the entry door opens, you will see into the larger space, but if you are going through all of this work, and you don't like the door opening to the wall (again think of the swing of the door, where the person opening the door would be standing, which will open to the large space and direct guests in that direction), why not completely remove that door and put the main entrance on the other side by the dining or living room off the driveway?  You can also add a door to the garage on the small bump out on the left to make a short path from the garage to the house when bringing in groceries.

What I don't like about the last floor plan is the washer and dryer are right off the living room-with the doors opening into the living room.  Could you put a stackable unit in and have the door on the wall facing bedroom 2)?  Or simply flip that larger space with the kitchen at the back and the living room at the front.

The third the way it is labeled may look like less space as you have a dining room in that plan, but not in the second plan-guessing both are meant to be the same.

Theresa,

With the house being Pier and beam the plumbing shouldn't be that expensive the only expensive part would be removing the wall since I believe it's load baring, I've made some modifications on the laundry room area as shown below, and thanks for the idea of re-locating the entrance door, I might actually consider it if  entering to a wall is not an issue anymore

I'd recommend changing the laundry door into a pocket door that slides into the wall by the bathroom vanity.  Otherwise you have an issue with the laundry door opening into the bedroom entryway.   

That looks good.  I also like how there is a window on the back wall of the living room.  It is pretty easy to re-frame a window and turn it into a door (or vice versa)...or pay some one to do it.

These are all going to be expensive renos.  I like the layout of the third the best.  You have two bedrooms together and don't have to walk through any of them to get to another room.  the way the entry door opens, you will see into the larger space, but if you are going through all of this work, and you don't like the door opening to the wall (again think of the swing of the door, where the person opening the door would be standing, which will open to the large space and direct guests in that direction), why not completely remove that door and put the main entrance on the other side by the dining or living room off the driveway?  You can also add a door to the garage on the small bump out on the left to make a short path from the garage to the house when bringing in groceries.

What I don't like about the last floor plan is the washer and dryer are right off the living room-with the doors opening into the living room.  Could you put a stackable unit in and have the door on the wall facing bedroom 2)?  Or simply flip that larger space with the kitchen at the back and the living room at the front.

The third the way it is labeled may look like less space as you have a dining room in that plan, but not in the second plan-guessing both are meant to be the same.

 Yes, in general always updating a kitchen and bathroom will get your money back. Moving walls and such are more risky especially in a low price point project like this.

I think thats a tough sell no matter the job if you're moving walls. Just slap paint, flooring, landscaping and flip it. You're not in an area where people pay for tiny.

I think you have to look at what a 2bed/1 bath homes gets you ARV.

Of course 3/2 is more appealing to most, but I think your rehab costs will be so high to accomplish that you will likely kill your returns and maybe even go negative compared to your ARV. Everything you propose doing to me has super high costs.

To me it almost looks like you want to transform it into something you would want to live in and value more.   You really have to be careful with this as you want to think about the market and what the broad market wants and what the broad market will pay for, not what you want.

Also do you loose the laundry room with the new floorplan?   I would think that would be a big negative for many.

The only place I see big revisions like this is in more expensive houses...often the mid-century type in North Dallas where there was formal living that many won't use any more...so people knock down a wall and open up the kitchen.

If this house is in the older part of Mckinney East of 75....what is your target market for end user? Is it families with kids that need the extra bedroom? Is it couples with no kids? Is it singles? Not a lot of sales to generate good ARV comps in this area I expect. This is probably a good area to find lots and build new homes, but it is tough buying rehabs in that area because the prices are too high to tear them down and build new.

If you bought it for around $100K, can you fix it for $20K and resale for $150,000?

I think there is more risk to buying for $100K and putting $50 into it and then trying to sell for $185,000.

I think people will complain the bedrooms are small and no laundry.

I do not like the first one because you have to go through one bedroom to get to the other one, and a bedroom opening to a car port is just weird.  Kids hate having someone else walking through their room, and even more so as teens and not the same sex.

I like the general living room/bedroom/kitchen layout of the second one better than the third one.  Entering a house to a wall is not good.

However I would not be interested in buying or renting the second or third design because of the bathrooms.  The bathroom with the hallway to the bedroom and bathroom seem to much to be a part of that bedroom, not a public area.  When I have guests over I do NOT want them to have to walk through my or my kid's bedroom to get to a bathroom.  Also I would not want one of my kids to have to go into my or the other kid's bedroom to use the bathroom...especially when they get up during the night and wake someone up!

I would rather have at least one bathroom open up to a common area for access to everyone.  Maybe put the washer/dryer in the back of the bathroom in the second one and open the bathroom up directly into the kitchen?  Or get rid of that tiny hallway and put the washer and dryer in a stack in that hallway and make the bathroom larger and open to the kitchen, and make the bedroom open to the kitchen too.  That hallway seems to be a waste of space.