Quote from @Danielle Campos:
I'm running to BiggerPockets because no one else understands what I'm doing or how excited I am. I closed on my first home/first house hack last week! It is a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms single family home. My plan is to convert the dining room into the 5th bedroom and the 1/2 bath into a full bath and ultimately make this a 5 bed, 3 bath home.
The home is exactly what I wanted with light renovation needed. I've never done anything DIY so this will be my first attempt. I am planning to put in LVP, paint the kitchen cabinets, and add some tiles to the bathroom. Unfortunately, it seems that I may need to replace all the carpets upstairs since it has black lines on the edges due to soil filtration (previous owners didn't clean their air filters often).
I'm feeling very optimistic right now, but have spent a whole week just trying to decide on a good value LVP so I can replace the 1st floor... I still need to pick a carpet, get it installed, and find a contractor who can do the bathroom conversion (I definitely cannot do that).
Would love to hear other's experience diving into doing DIY for the first times. Any tips?
Hey Danielle, congrats on getting started and investing in your first Investment! We remodel homes just south of Charlotte in SC and practice the BRRRR strategy. Closing on investment properties can become addicting. The more you do it, the more you want to do it again and again.
When doing conversions, updating baths, creating new bedrooms/bathrooms, etc. make sure you do your research on local codes and permits required. If/when you plan on selling the property, if you don't pull permits, you may run into trouble with inspections when attempting to list your home if the amounts of bathrooms, bedrooms, etc have changed.
We utilize handymen for many parts of our rehabs but on properties that will be rented/sold in the following 24 months, in our area, a GC is required to pull all permits. Meaning, we as the owners, cannot pull the permits ourselves if the property is not our primary residence and we will be selling/renting the home in the following 24 months.
House hacking is a great way to get started. Don't get too stuck in analysis paralysis when needing to choose materials. Think about your long term goals. If your plan is to rent, know renters can be hard on any finishes. LVP/Laminate are great choices for rentals due to being inexpensive & durable. Apply this concept to many areas of your rental areas/homes.
Good Luck and keep that momentum and optimism going!
