Rehab Your Way to Wealth: The Quick Way to Fixer-Upper Success
By Mark Barnes
Completely rebuilding a house is not necessary to make money in investment
real estate. Most times, if you have bought smart, you won’t have to
make a huge improvements on your investment property. Look for places that
need only a small amount of work. For example, look for a property that appears
to be run down from the outside, but does not need major repair. Here are a
few tips for saving money and making quick improvements, in order to quickly
sell your rehab property.
1. A house may need a coat of paint but have a nice roof. The paint might
cost a few hundred dollars, while a new roof might cost $2,000 to 3,000. Plus,
a fresh coat of paint makes almost any house look brand new.
2. Check the foundation very carefully. Foundation work is extremely expensive.
I would stay away from any house with a questionable foundation.
3. Like exterior paint, landscaping goes very far in terms of curb appeal,
one of the biggest factors in the sale of any kind of real estate. A house
with uncut grass, weeds overrunning flowerbeds, and poorly trimmed bushes or
trees is very difficult to sell. Conversely, a house with minor deficiencies
in other areas may still have a buyer, who wants something that looks good
from the outside.
4. Look for investment properties that have nice kitchens or kitchens that
can become nice with little effort and money. If you can refinish some cabinets
and lay some cheap flooring, this will help you sell, because women are instrumental
in the final decision of most real estate purchases, and they love nice kitchens.
It’s not sexist; it’s a proven real estate fact.
5. A finished basement or one that can be finished easily will also help you
sell your new investment property. Basement carpet can be purchased and installed
for very little money. Again, some paint on the walls can go a long way to
making the basement homier. Add a drop ceiling – easy to install and
very inexpensive, and you can have yourself a rec room for a few hundred dollars.
Although these are not the only things that will improve your property, they
are a few of the cheapest and easiest. Plus, these are improvements that will
increase your investment property’s value exponentially and make it easy
to sell.
Mark Barnes is an investment real estate and real estate finance expert. Get
his free mortgage finance course at http://www.winningthemortgagegame.com.
Mark is also the author of the new novel, The League, a shocking, sports-related
conspiracy. Learn more about his suspense thriller at http://www.sportsnovels.com.
