Do you attempt a DIY (Do It Yourself) project, or hire a contractor? If you’re with a quality property management company, they may have contractors, as Management One does, who can do the rehab for you, and have the property move-in ready quickly. Let’s look at the known aspects of this, as well as the not-so-well-known aspects.
A companion piece can also be found here: DIY Home Repairs vs Using Property Management Vendors
What is a Move-in Ready Home?
What does that mean? I have seen over time so many examples of what people think it means to have a house move-in ready, and it is almost never the same thing from one case to another. There are similarities between one home (and the eyes that check it over) and the next, however, the concept and expectations of the phrase “ready to move into” varies. In short, one person’s “sparkling clean” is rarely the next person’s version.
Yes, the floors are usually pretty clean, at first glance, but once you start really looking, into the corners, or at the grout, the baseboards, that’s where the differences start.
The appliances are usually pretty clean but lift the stovetop deck to access the stove’s under-burner area, and there is a strong likelihood that you will find crud here.
A House that is Move-in Ready Means…
- Everything is clean.
- Everything works.
- Anything that needs paint has been painted.
- Items that need replacing have been replaced.
- The house can now be somebody’s home.
It Does Not Mean…
- Just wiping down walls that need paint because the paint is expensive. Do you know what is expensive? A short-term resident is expensive. A dis-satisfied renter is expensive.
Bear in mind that once a renter begins picking apart a rehabbed home, they won’t stop, and every minor thing will become a major thing, if only in their minds. - Disregarding that stove that leaks gas, because, you know, it hasn’t exploded yet, so why to spend money on a stove, that’s expensive. NO, being sued into oblivion is expensive.
- Leaving behind a filthy carpet, perhaps with holes in it because, you know, that’s expensive. No, having a home sit on the market for too long, now that is expensive. What is too long? 14 days from vacant borders on too long and a month ought to have a property owner nearly hyperventilating.
I've Been There
When my mother passed away, I had to rehab her house. This was not as a rental (although I did consider it) but for sale. The broker I hired told me time and again, hire someone to do the work. “It will cost money, but the work will be done right, and it will be done quickly.” He had me (shaking my head) at “Cost Money.”
I did the rehab myself, all the painting, repairs, everything except replacing the carpet. It took me two months to get the work done. It took longer than that to sell the house. If this were a rental rehab, I would have cost the estate maybe two months of rent, and then some.
Looking at the Real Cost of Having a Rental House Move-in Ready
Let’s take an average house size of 1700 square feet.
Flooring
There be a kitchen, about 200 square feet, and probably two bathrooms, maybe 150 square feet between them, that’s 350 square feet of hard flooring. By the way, if you put carpet in any bathroom, you’re doing yourself a disservice. One toilet overflow and you have a potential for mold growth, not to mention a foul-smelling area, and guaranteed expenses replacing it in the future.
Hard Flooring
Hard flooring can be vinyl or tile, be it ceramic or porcelain, all of which minimizes the potential for water damage. Have you ever laid any of these? If not, hire a pro. And never, ever lay one floor over another, such as new vinyl over old, or tile over vinyl. Take the time and expense to do it right!
Expect a total cost of vinyl flooring @350 square feet to come in at about $18 a square yard, or $700 in vinyl. Expect the cost to be between $5 and $6 a square foot in tile or roughly just under three times the cost of vinyl. What do you get for that three times cost? A floor that will last, and look good for many years longer than any other.
Carpeting and Hybrid
Leftover is the carpet if that is your choice of floor covering. If it can be cleaned, you’re looking at a cost of about $50 a room. If a DIY project, good luck with that. Renting a Rug Doctor machine will set you back about $30 a day, and depending on how much work is involved, you could easily be two days going over, and over, the flooring. What is your time worth to you?
Oh, and the professionals, do they arrive bearing Rug Doctors? No, they don’t.
However, to replace the carpet, expect a cost of about $1.80 to $3.00 a square foot or more, installed. That’s $16.20 to $27 per yard. The remaining 1350 square feet of this 1700 sq ft house will cost at least $2424, with removal, new padding, new carpet, and installation. Or you could change things up, keep the carpet in the bedrooms, and install laminate everywhere else but the baths and kitchen. That whole water thing again.
A 1700 sq ft house is likely a three bedroom so you can take about 488 square feet and carpet that for a little over $875. That leaves you 862 square feet to put laminate into. That is just under $5000 with the removal of the old flooring, and professional installation of an excellent quality (12mm) laminate flooring. Sure, you could buy a cheaper laminate, but it will probably cost you more in the long run.
Paint
A lot of people think they are good painters. They aren’t. I have even seen “professionals” goof up paint. It actually is harder than it looks. And have you priced paint? I remember when it was dirt cheap, but these days a gallon of semi-gloss can set you back $22 to $32 a gallon, and more.
Now you need the rollers, the brushes, the tarps, the painter’s tape, etc. Add this cost, then decide if you’re a good enough painter to justify the cost.
Odds are you’re like me, good enough that I’m pleased with the work, but never want to do that again. So once again, I ask, what is your time worth?
A skilled professional will charge you under $30 a wall, that’s time and materials. That 1700 sq ft house? Expect a professional to charge you less than $1350 to completely paint it, minus cabinets and ceilings.
Bric-a-Brac
The lesser items, the miscellaneous stuff.
- Door stoppers
- Closet rollers
- Floor guides
- Re-screening screens or replacing them
- Toilet wax rings and flanges, re-building commodes.
- Stripping caulk and re-caulking kitchens and bathrooms.
- Properly installing towel bars.
- Replacing light bulbs.
What is your plan for this? I do recommend planning this out to the letter, and crossing the items off your list as you go. Otherwise, it is guaranteed you’ll forget things. Did you know there are more than 3,000 items that make up a home?
Cleaning
Cleaning is the single largest tripping point, and the single most often cited item in preventing a rental from being move-in ready. As I said above, one person’s sparkling clean is another person’s “it’s okay,” or even, “are you kidding me?”, as in, not clean. In other words, it’s all relative.
That 1700 square foot house? Plan to spend about $500 to have it professionally cleaned. That does not in any way absolve you from having to check the cleaning, far from it. If the cleaning isn’t right, and complete, it isn’t move-in ready.
