The Business of Flipping Homes by William Bronchick

Author:William Bronchick [Bronchick, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781942952787
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.

FLIP TIP

Good enough. When replacing major items such as furnaces, carpet, and roofs, it is not necessary to go with the best quality or grade. Do what is consistent with the neighborhood. If you overspend on quality items, you are appealing to the intellects of your buyers instead of their hearts. People buy on emotion, so instead of overspending on major items, overspend on minor items such as light fixtures, door handles, and sink faucets.

Safety items can never be ignored. Always install battery-powered smoke detectors in each bedroom and hallway. Replace old, yellowed detectors with new ones. You will also need to install carbon-monoxide (CO) detectors. These devices detect potentially lethal carbon monoxide and are now required in the majority of states. You will most likely need to place units in the hallway immediately outside each bedroom. Battery-powered units are acceptable.

Each bedroom must have a closet and an egress window or egress door. There are specific guidelines regarding egress-window size, height from the floor, outside-well dimensions, and ladder requirements. Grates over basement windows must be operable from the inside. Obviously, egress doors must go to the exterior, not interior passageways. Nonconforming bedrooms without proper egresses will lower the property’s appraised value, so provide at least two conforming bedrooms if possible.

Make sure the property has securely locking exterior doors. Dead bolt locks should allow the occupant to open the latch from inside the premises without a key, due to fire-liability issues. Buyers expect you to provide window screens and unseen things such as adequate insulation. There are a few specific requirements for garages as well. Automatic garage door openers should have an electric eye safety device and a properly adjusted clutch. Garage service doors (hinged) leading into a house must be fire rated and should have self-closing hinges. The shared wall separating the house from the garage should also be fire-rated drywall or, at a minimum, extend to the rafters.

In addition, stairwells and decks should be protected by adequate guardrails. Stairs should have proper handrails, and stair treads should have consistent and proper rise and run. Most homes you sell will be subject to FHA guidelines. FHA appraisers have some flexibility in what they deem unsafe, so when in doubt, err on the side of caution. These safety guidelines are a good starting point, but take the time to learn the basics of modern building codes.

Strong curb appeal helps sell any property. Focus on exterior items such as paint, entryway, landscaping, roof, windows, gutters and downspouts, and mailbox. Sometimes we will add shake shingles on the face of gables, or spruce up the front porch to give the home a bit of style. If the house has been poorly maintained, you may need to replace siding or repair brick that has cracked due to settling. We usually replace some amount of exterior trim on every flip. Go ahead and replace all the siding or trim if you find that more than 20 percent of it is damaged. Masonite siding and trim is relatively inexpensive and a good choice for flips.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.