I mentioned in a previous post that The Bulge House had an upcoming tenant, and that the tenant was a member of my family. The rest of the story is that my brother will be moving down to Atlanta from Baltimore (with his girlfriend), will be renting The Bulge House, and will be consulting for our company. Because he has several years experience in the mortgage industry, he’ll be focusing on providing us processes and systems around finding buyers and helping them through the challenging maze of financing that most buyers are experiencing these days. He’ll also be designing marketing programs around finding qualified buyers.
They’re making the trip this weekend, so we have about three more days to get The Bulge House in rental shape. Today, we had the landscaper do his thing, get the appliances delivered, and got all the fixtures, lights, fans, and bathroom/kitchen hardware replaced. Tomorrow, we have a pest inspector and a plumber coming out, Thursday is the cleaning crew, and Friday is the carpet cleaner. That leaves Saturday for us to do a bit of decorating and personalizing (my wife wouldn’t have it any other way).
We did hit our first rehab snag today… When the appliances were delivered, we realized that there were a few things that still needed to be taken care of. The refrigerator doesn’t have an ice-maker, so we need to cut and cap the plumbing line that is currently there (there’s no shut-off valve for this line); the new stove is electric, but the old stove was gas, and the existing gas line is in the way of the new installation, so that that needs to be cut and capped as well; and the plumbing for the washer isn’t available where it needs to be, so additional pipes and a drain need to be run for that. Our GC will be coming back tomorrow for another day to take care of this stuff, but unfortunately, that means a couple hundred dollars over budget and another day lost on The Corn House, where our GC has been working.
Time to find something to negotiate to hopefully keep us on budget!
That’s a bummer about the oven — Whenever there is already gas connections, be sure to put in a gas oven. You’ll get much more interest in the kitchen, because people perceive gas ovens/ranges to be more on the “gourmet” level than Electric. You’d never see Emeril cooking on an electric oven, or Wolfgang Puck for that matter 😉 Also we always use fridges with ice makers, and we spend the extra $300-400 for the nice double door side-by-side models, because it seems like every time I’ve tried to go cheap with the standard (Even if stainless) — it takes an extra month or 2 to sell.
Those are some good tips, Hakrjak!
I hadn’t thought about the gas vs. electric range…will keep that in mind on the next ones…
Thanks!
It’s important to keep in mind when discussing buyer preferences that each part of the country may be different. Its always best to try and seek confirmation of the idea in your neck of the woods.
That being said, while I’d agree with Hakrjak on the refrigerator, I don’t think the gas vs. electric assessment is always true. There are definitely some people who care about the “gourmet” gas stove, but when pitted against a smooth top electric, the MUCH higher cleanability of the smooth-top, relatively wide (at least in Arizona) perception of smooth-top as a luxury, and greater cook speed can dwarf the “gourmet” benefit for more practical (read first time, entry-level) homebuyers who may not even know who Emeril is.
As always it depends on your market, and what the houses immediate competition is.
While I agree with both of the previous posts, sometimes it’s even nice to be able to let a potential buyer or renter pick.