All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Case,

A few things to research prior to moving forward. Look into your local codes for tread depth minimum, you may be to narrow if you take the bullnose off.

Just looking at a quick snapshot of your picture there are a couple ways you can achieve a desired result.

Using the vinyl: clean the leading edge of the lip up, rip a piece of the planking, using a spray 90 adhere the ripped piece of flooring the the leading edge and then glue the tread planks to the tread.

I don't know how the edge will wear but that is one way.

You could also do the same thing then finish it with an aluminum nosing, this nosing will assure an edge that will last a long time.

They also make a rubber nosing that will do the same thing as the aluminum with a different look.

You can easily source any of these on line. Just google stair nosing.

Rob,

I agree with Jeff. Take a boat load pictures.

With that being said we always have a professional take our pictures.

The lighting is always perfect, they know what angles work best, they have the correct lenses ext.

If you search around and find someone to work with it is cheap.

We pay our person $129.00 dollars to shoot our projects. 

This gives us about 50 photos of the project.

Because of the quality we are able to use with success the photos in our advertising, we use them on our web site ext.

Worth every penny.

Matt,

We just installed an home depot product in our basement. The product is 100% water proof and snapped together right over the concrete. Looks just like a wood floor.

I apologize for not putting the name in but I would do a little research anyway to find the best deal of any product you are looking for. Home depot is not always the cheapest.

When putting floors in our rentals we always look for reasonable and ease of replacement. The nice thing about a floating floor is it comes up really easy when it needs to be replaced.

We have also found the products that are waterproof seem to hold up much better than ones that are not. Renters are usually not super concerned about taking their shoes off or tracking crap onto the floors. Not a judgement just an observation.

Just think of the big picture because all floors will need replacing at some point.

Amir,

@joesephgozlen said it perfectly.

My wife has a license and we look at properties on a daily basis. There is nothing better than having full access to properties on the market. In addition it opens us up to a whole network of like minded people. If you are always putting ideas and questions to the community properties and investments will just start showing up.

Good luck.

Kent,

I am from Oregon but build all over the country. I have always found it inaccurate to apply a general building cost per sq foot.

The best way to avoid losses in any project is to do the tough homework and fill out your own spread sheet.

Even if you are having a GC build your project you will avoid change orders by having an idea of what you are putting in your build.

What type of structure is it? Rental or residence? Custom or spec? Stainless appliances or standard white?

$500 dollars for light fixtures or $15,000?

What type of heating system?

Hardwood through out carpet?

What type of roof? composite or tiles?

Basement or crawl space?

What type of windows?

You can see by the above that a general cost for estimates is dangerous and no one likes giving money away.

Ram,

With the correct preparation building your own house can be rewarding. It can also save you the overhead of a contractor, keep in mind I am a contractor.

The key word above is preparation and understanding all that is involved in building a house.

One, will your city allow you to act as a contractor?

Do you have a clear understanding of all the elements in building a house. at minimum you should get a form from your lending institution. This form will have every line item necessary to build a house. Once you fill this out and put all the prices together you will have a clear understanding of the cost.

Make sure you also have the time, this is a tough undertaking on a part time basis.

Acting as a contractor you will need to buy all the lights, plumbing fixtures and materials to build your house, this all takes a lot of time.

Another thing to take into consideration is warranty, just saying.

All in all with out experience your time would be best spent taking the time to vet 3 qualified contractors.

Once you have your plans and a list of plumbing fixtures and lights you can hold a job walk and talk to all three at once. The advantage to this is time and it shows the contractors you are looking for a competitive bid. also by having your appliance, lights and plumbing fixture needs in place this will give you a more accurate bid and not an allowance which will always be low.

At this time collect their references, then call the references. Ask if they communicate well, did the project come in on budget? is their work up to par, quality.

When your bids come in they should be pretty close in price. Then it comes down to references and personality. You will want to work with someone you are comfortable with.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out and ask.

Hi Tamara,

Mike has given you some good advise.

I would encourage you to call the city and find out what their policies are. Where I build a permit can be transferred when a contractor is fired for a fee of 67 dollars. Once the fee is paid they will change the names out to the new contractors. This would be a fee for building, elec, plumbing ext. $67.00 per permit.

Aksel,

Sometimes the learning curves can be tough but you are asking the right questions.

Variances can be tough, it only takes one wack job in the neighborhood to make your life hell.

Whenever we buy a property and have a notion for an additional dwelling unit or a change of use there are a few things we do. If the property is hot we will write an offer with contingencies and sort it out in our due diligence period, inspections ext. This will give you a clean out if you don't get what you want.

We also go to the city with a list of questions and get them answered over the counter. I have never been turned away and always come away with a clear understanding and direction.

When we buy houses to flip we always look at the purchase price, how much money is it going to take to fix it to our liking and how much can we get in the end. If this meets our criteria we will pull the trigger.

If you are looking at it as a rental, be sure to crunch all your numbers to make sure it will cash flow.

I know this sounds obvious but putting together spread sheets on all aspects will keep you from a ready fire aim situation.

Shay, It isn't uncommon for a broker not wanting to show property if the buyer isn't pre qualified.

This will be a prerequisite for most lenders private or conventional. 

Through the years I have gone down many tubes for borrowing money.

Conventional: find a lender you like and go through the drill to find out with your financials what it is you can borrow. For this method you will know what it is you can afford and what the bank will lend with your qualifications.

Do the same for private. Find two or three private lenders, go through their drill and find out what they will be willing to lend you with your financials the way they are.

Once you have this part in your quiver you can drill down with your broker and look at properties you can afford.

Now with that being said lending is as vast as your imagination. I once bought three contiguous properties on an option, this option gave me the right, but not the obligation to buy these properties at todays price in 6 months. Once I controlled these properties I hit the pavement with a business plan and went to 6 different private lenders, all said no. I did however listen to their reasons for not, tweaked my business plan and went back, still no. I tweaked my plan again, narrowed the list and went back, still no but for different reasons. Finally something clicked for me while listening to one lender, I tweaked the financials giving him the money he really wanted, finally a yes. I secured a private line of credit for one million dollars. This gave me the money I needed to re-zone the properties and put in a 27 lot subdivision.

I tell the story realizing it is around development and not a straight purchase. But you can apply the principles of getting creative to anything you buy.

Try and find an owner carry and get creative.

Sky is the limit to creativity.

@Bryce Wong. Bryce, It seems you are handy. You could take the extra parts from the cabinets you removed and make a door. That would give you a finished look and cost very little. The one thing to always keep in mind when remodeling. When done, it shouldn't look like you have been there.