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Ryan G. WrightApr 20, 2017 8:20:37 PM4 min read

Three Rehab Upgrades to Make Your Home Stand Out

Three Rehab Upgrades to Make Your Home Stand Out

One of the biggest mistakes a new real estate investor can make is pouring all of the money in their rehab fund into the wrong repairs. Rehabbing a property is a delicate art requiring a great deal of savvy on what current buyers are looking for and what is most important to them. If you over-rehab, under-rehab or rehab the wrong items you can find yourself with a property sitting on the market for months or years on end. Since hard money loans are short-term, your aim is to sell the property as quickly as possible.

So what’s the difference between properties that sell lightning-fast on the MLS and properties which sit around collecting real estate dust? The obvious answer is location, but even properties in prime locations can have trouble selling due to a poor execution of the rehab. But don’t worry! The Investor's Edge is here to give you the Top Three Upgrades you can make to your rehab to ensure it not only sells quickly, but buyers will be lined up around the block for your property.

1. Repaint, Refinish and Restore

Painting the interior and exterior of the home is a very necessary rehab expense. The tones of the interior should be neutral colors, or earth tones, to ensure the home gives off a feeling of warmth while representing a blank canvas for the future buyer to paint their image of the perfect home. The tone of the exterior should be neutral as well; a color which matches any brick or stone work on the outside and also doesn’t make the property stand out horrifically from the other homes in the neighborhood. A fantastic investment to consider when painting your home is Sherwin Williams SuperPaint. Many painters and contractors agree that this brand of paint covers better than any other paint, is durable and will withstand the test of time. It’s also perfect for painting the exterior, as this enduring paint can be applied in temperatures as cold as 35 degrees without any problem.

Just as important as repainting the interior and exterior are refinishing and restoring hard wood flooring. Potential buyers won’t care about how great the paint looks if they are distracted by the warped and discolored wood. The worst thing you can do is paint over hard wood floors or cover them up with laminate or vinyl flooring and hope that no one will notice. Remember – buyers notice everything! Restoring the original wood floors are key to executing a successful rehab.

2. Windows Are No Waste

If there’s any rehab item you want to indulge in, it’s window upgrades. Buyers will look into the quality of the windows when they shop for a home. One of the best ways to save big on electric bills is to invest in excellent windows with high quality seals and insulation properties. Make sure you don’t spare any expense when it comes to installing windows. They will prove to be a major selling point which can take the buyer from a “hmmm, I don’t know” to an “I’ll take it!” frame of mind.

We had an investor who was performing a rehab on a home and was going to leave the windows as-is, even though they were poor quality and needed some minor repairs. The DHM team convinced the investor that they won’t want to scrimp on windows and even helped them budget their rehab to see where more money could be added to upgrade the windows. This investor was SO glad they listened to our advice! One of the first buyers to see the completed rehab went straight for the windows and started asking questions about the make and how recently they were installed. This buyer ended up being very pleased that time was taken to upgrade the windows and ended up making an offer on the home soon after.

3. Perfect the Plumbing

When it comes to shortcuts with rehabs, you may want to think twice about cutting corners with the plumbing fixtures. Just because you have the option to buy a fixture for ten dollars at Walmart doesn’t mean you should necessarily do it. The higher-quality plumbing components cost more money because they end up saving the home owner more money in the long run. The more expensive fixtures have better parts and aren’t made up of plastic. Invest in the best – take pride in the plumbing materials.

This can also prove to be a great selling point for your home. A home buyer will want to purchase a property which will cause them the least amount of worry and the highest amount of security throughout the years. Knowing that they won’t have to deal with plumbing breaking down or any other issues due to low-quality fixtures will give them yet another fantastic reason to buy your rehabbed property.

Learn how to flip properties with us by attending our next webinar.

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