All Forum Posts by: Ted L.

I’m a kitchen designer. I flip houses. #2 is the best. Easy choice.

Have you looked into the price difference for purchasing installed laminate versus granite? Inexpensive granite should only be a few hundred dollars more than laminate for a smaller kitchen but the value perceived by future tenants, appraisers and purchasers will be more.

Nope. Super easy. Just set it and forget it.

The term “refinish” to me would be to sand and apply 2-3 coats of clear poly without staining. In the future, try to be a little more specific than “refinish”. 1. Buff and coat: use a floor machine to scuff the floor and apply a coat of poly $1-2/SF 2. Sand and finish: use a drum sander to cut to bare wood and apply a coat of poly, then scuff and apply another coat. $2.50 -4.00 per sf. Applying poly shades is not part of what professionals typically do. I have done it and it has its place when the floor can’t be sanded because it’s too thin but it’s not ideal.

Buy low. Sell high. Try to find a deal good enough that you could immediately turn around and sell it for $10k - 20k profit. If you pay market pricing you paid too much.

I’m a cabinet dealer so of course I veer toward new cabinets most of the time. That being said, we are all investors and we all have to determine how to best get a return. Here are a couple thoughts: 1. It is unlikely you could get doors from Ikea that will fit. The sizes are never quite right. You would have to get them a a place like waltz craft or make your own. 2. Whenever I see a wall oven in an investment property I start thinking about that difficulty and expense of replacement. If you decide on new cabinets or even if you can just modify the layout of what’s there, I would try to get a typical slide in range and eliminate the cooktop and wall oven.

Here is an example. My partner and I recently bought a house that was never listed. We sent the Owner a letter and they were looking to sell. The house was half way through a renovation so it had plywood floors, some raw framing and needs partitions laid out and framed. In the midst of planning a renovation, we decided to see if we could sell it to another investor who it might be a better fit for. We did not want to put it in the MLS because if we were unsuccessful, we would end up rehabbing it and listing it again. Buyers would be able to see the unimproved listing and we thought it might turn some of them off. Furthermore, you will now have to deal with buyers who might not know what they are getting into. Instead we pushed out an announcement to our contact lists and a private Facebook group of investors. We had a number of showings and negotiated an all cash sale to one of these buyers. Next week, when the sale closes, it will have been sold twice without ever having been listed.

I don’t think there would ever be a case when you could remove toilets. Generally, anything attached to the building stays with the building. It’s an improvement, it’s not equipment. You obviously made a decision to limit competition by ruining the place. If it were me I would keep the security deposit and depending on the cost of the vandalism, I would sue for damages. I would probably see if the district attorney’s office would be willing to file any criminal charges as well. You are awful people to destroy the place on your way out. You didn’t just do it for your gain, you did it intentionally to make the place less desirable.

I’m 42 and a recovering architect. Although I remain licensed, I changed my registration to “inactive”. I was a partner in a small firm when I started flipping houses. I found it to be more satisfying and financially rewarding than working as an architect. As I developed other business interests, and continued real estate investing, I just didn’t have enough hours in the day to do it all and had to make the hard decision to give up practicing architecture. It was a hard decision because I had probably one of the better experiences as an architect. I worked with wonderful people and had my own projects. We designed a variety of buildings and it was often enjoyable. Reflecting back, it’s a tremendous effort to become an architect. I’m not sure that those outside of the profession comprehend what it takes. 6 years of school. 4 years of internship. A year of preparing for and taking numerous exams. When making the decision to leave, it was hard to think about all the effort that I put in for so many years to get there. That experience will always be with me.

Yes. You should be able to do much better.