Preparation Pays Off – Another Successful Renovation

By Paul Branton, Director of Investor Services

It was last October 20^th when I made my first visit to a property for the mechanical inspection.  As you can see from the “before” photos, I knew this was going to be a great candidate for a remodel. 

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After my visit, I discussed the potential of this unit with our client and let him know that the tenants were not taking very good care of the property. It was well under a reasonable market rent by $300/m. And the lease was ending in 100 days. We agreed that we should provide the tenants notice of non-renewal (60 days before the lease ending date) and plan to renovate the unit.

$20k and 4 Weeks

Based on my experience with previous renovations of this size/scope, I told our client they should plan on a $20k budget and a four week timeline. The day after the property was vacated by the tenants, I went up and made sure the utilities were now on in the client’s name/account, put our lockbox on the home and confirmed our scope of work that would address everything. 

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The very next day, February 2nd, the contractor was on site to work up their proposal based upon the scope of work I had provided to them on Jan 13^th along with a couple of additions from my visit the day before. (Tip: It’s always a good idea to give your contractor a heads up when a project is in the pipeline.)

Their proposal was sent on February 4th and ended up being $20,965. That included the addition of a tile shower surround which was not included in the original scope. That same day, I sent the proposal to our client. They approved it right away since it was in line with what we had been expecting. I immediately informed the vendor that we had the “green light” to proceed with the project as quoted. Since we had prepared the contractor ahead of time, they were ready to “rock and roll” and started the work on February 5th.   

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That brings us to today… March 2nd

I am writing this story on March 2nd, just shy of four weeks after starting this process. The project is complete, our client is thrilled with the results, and the unit is ready for new tenants to move in. Woohoo!

When it comes to a successful renovation, preparation really pays off. In fact, when discussing preparation, one of my favorite quotes about the topic comes from Abraham Lincoln when he said:  “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Well, Mr. Lincoln, I am happy to report that our axe is quite sharp and this tree has been chopped down.

Have a GREAT week and Happy Investing!