All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Hi,

I'm about to start a kitchen remodel in one of my units.  Short term I will be living here, longer term I will be renting this unit out and may consider selling the complex (duplex) eventually.  I'd like some advice on color schemes.

Flooring throughout the unit is laminate, medium brown color.  In the kitchen I will be installing wood cabinets (walnut color) with white countertops.  I'm deciding between a light beige and white for the flooring.  Suggestions to maximize tenant/buyer appeal?  Walls and ceiling are white.

Same question for the bathroom - shower tiling is going to be beige/brown and vanity counter/cabinet will be walnut.  White walls.  Not sure what to do for flooring.

Thanks!

Patrick

Question for fellow so cal property owners!

What are your thoughts on acquiring earthquake and/or flood insurance?  Have you purchased this in the past for any of your properties and do you now?  If not, why?

Do you recommend purchasing insurance that will continue to pay your monthly mortgage if you were injured and no longer able to work?

Thank you all, as always, for all of the helpful information.  I am definitely leaving this to a pro and hiring an electrician haha.  Not enough time for this.  Thanks again

Duly noted.  I think I will opt for an electrical contractor on this one.  I need some other small electrical work done anyways so I'll throw this in with it.  Art, would you recommend just putting a solid outlet cover over it (like this one: http://cdn.mscdirect.com/global/images/ProductImages/0118955-11.jpg) until I'm able to get a contractor to come out?  If I do this, any type of material I should opt for or avoid?  

One of the outlets in one of my units looks like this... as you can see, the thing that should be on the front where you can plug in is missing... does this look broken or is there something I can buy at home depot to put on the front before I install a cover plate?  I could obviously use some help with terminology here... thanks folks

Late response.  Thanks all for the feedback, appreciate it.  Hydrojetting did the trick for now and should work again in the next few years if it gets clogged again.  But I'm budgeting to do an actual replacement or repair in the next 5-7 years.  

Thanks for the feedback everyone!  I used Kilz and an Ozone generator.  Between that and putting in the new flooring, you can't smell a thing now.  I read a blog post on here recently in which the writer alluded to the fact that he always looks out for properties that smell bad.  This probably repulses a lot of buyers, which means lower demand, which means more leverage in negotiating the selling price.  Dealing with this the first time was a headache but a great lesson

(a good handyman)  See attached...

What have your experiences been with old sewer lines?  When have you decided it is definitely necessary to replace them?  I have a unit that was really backed up and likely hadn't been serviced for years and years.  A camera ran through showed that there is also damage in two spots.  Plumbing company spent 8 hours out there this month completely clearing the line (it was reallyyyyy backed up), so it should perform fine for at least a couple of years.  It cost me $800 to do this.  I'm expecting that complete replacement will cost 7.5 to 15k, so I'd rather shell out a grand every couple of years in the near term.  But long term it will probably need to be fixed.  Just not sure how long I should wait to pull the trigger - want to defer large expenses but also don't want a really pissed off tenant!