Posted by Glen SoCal on March 04, 2002 at 22:53:00:
GL,
Thanks for that. I’ll check it out. 6 months free/no interest from Home Depot would be perfect timing for turning around a rehab.
Glen
Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by Roxanne(ca)
Posted by Roxanne(ca) on February 28, 2002 at 18:26:34:
I am thinking of purchasing a small fixer and make it a rental for Section 8 tenants. The fixer needs kitchen appliances, cabinet, counter top, and floor throughout. It probably needs exterior painting. The previous owner made some work but never finished and now lives out of town.
I’ve never fixed houses and the only store I can think of regarding building material is Home Depot. It will be too expensive for me to hire a contractor/handyman to do the work. I wonder where do you guys go to get cheap building material? I should have no trouble of getting used kitchen appliances. I need to know my cost first before I can decide if the propety is worth the trouble.
Also, the property is located in a bad neighborhood. I think building material from Home Depot might be a bid too good for that house. Or should I use better material in the first place?
Are there any restriction on the building standard when you rent to Section 8 tenants?
Any suggestion?
Thanks in Advance.
Roxanne (ca)
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by rentvent
Posted by rentvent on March 03, 2002 at 24:03:00:
Oops paint at Home Depot usually goes for $3/gal.
Sears has a scratch-n-dent appliance store (usually 40 cents on the dollar)
Keep your eye out at Home depot for closeout and display items with the yellow tags.
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by Chris JP
Posted by Chris JP on March 01, 2002 at 18:13:34:
A couple of other techniques, that I wish I had done on my first fixer-upper:
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If you’re going to pay off the bill each month, instead of spending cash, get an airline “skymiles” credit card and use it for all purchases - that way you may get a free ticket or two from all your cash throughput.
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Look into getting a “contractor’s account” at Lowes and/or Home Depot. I don’t know what the minimum requirements are, but if you get it, it will be an added discount for all your purchases…
Good Luck - I had a blast!,
Chris
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by Tim Jensen
Posted by Tim Jensen on March 01, 2002 at 09:23:03:
Roxanne,
This is what I suggest.
I would go to home depot to buy the materials. Now let me run down what I think you should do.
Appliances: Used like you talked about
Cabinets and counter top: I would buy the ones that you put together. They are cheap and look nice. If the break, no big deal you just buy a replacement. Same with the counter top. You can buy an inexpensive off the shelf kind.
Flooring: I would get a cheap inexpensive carpet, perferablly berber type, that has an attached pad. All you do is cut the carpet to fit the room, then use a staple gun to hold in down. In so cases, I don’t even staple it down or if I do I use like 15 staples for the whole room. You will discover that after a while there are times where you don’t need to fasten the carpet down. When it comes to vynil flooring. I would put down the commericial squares in the kitchen and buy a small remenant for the bathroom. These are both cheap and hold up well.
Exterior Paint: This is where I would not go cheap. It pays to buy a real good quality exterior paint. Also, make sure you scrape and power wash the exterior before painting. This way the paint job will last a lot longer. I would brush on the paint rather then spray it. I have done both and found that spraying doesn’t do as good of a job as brushing. Sure brushing takes longer, but if you are going to keep this as a long term rental, you are better off. I sprayed a house and it is only 5 years and I need to paint it again. The place I brushed, lasted 10 years.
Interior paint: I would buy the cheapest semi-gloss paint you can buy. I would also paint the whole place one color, unless you have nice wood trim.
Hope this helps,
Tim
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by GL(ON)
Posted by GL(ON) on March 01, 2002 at 09:13:04:
Do you mean you can’t afford the materials, or the profit margin is so small it doesn’t pencil out?
If the profit is too small, forget it and go on to the next deal.
If the profit is good but you happen to be a little short of money, go to Home Depot and apply for a credit card. If your credit is halfway decent they will give you a card on the spot. Then you can charge whatever you need, as long as it is over $400, and you don’t need to pay a cent for 6 months. This should give you time to get it fixed up and rented or sold.
Except in rare cases there is no point in trying to beat Home Depot’s price.
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by jim
Posted by jim on February 28, 2002 at 22:01:09:
Restrictions on the building standard when renting to Section 8? Yes, the house must meet the standards of the HUD code. Call your local Section 8 office and tell them you are thinking of renting this house to a Section 8 tenant. They may give you a list of the requirements that you need to meet, or they may send out an inspector for a preliminary inspection. Some Section 8 offices will send an inspector to do a preliminary inspection while others will not.
The lowest priced building materials will most likely be found at the large chain home improvement stores such as Home Depot or Lowes. Your local hardware or lumberyards may have specials on certain items or may have lowered their prices to better compete with the large chains.
The major home improvement chains and your local competitors both carry a range of merchandise from low priced to higher priced. In this area, some of the large local hardware stores carry a “starter kitchen”. This is a very basic inexpensive kitchen set with a countertop and a few cabinets.
BEWARE!! If the house is in a bad neighborhood, be sure to secure it properly while it is unoccupied. You may even want to get an alarm system.
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by Paul S
Posted by Paul S on February 28, 2002 at 21:30:49:
Ever look for a demolition sale?
Great Idea… - Posted by Tim Jensen
Posted by Tim Jensen on March 02, 2002 at 13:42:08:
Chris,
I have one of those no fee airline miles credit cards. In 6 months I almost have enough to get a free ticket. Heck, in a few years, I figure I can take the whole family to Europe for free.
Tim
How’s that? - Posted by Glen SoCAl
Posted by Glen SoCAl on March 02, 2002 at 24:44:57:
My credit is good so I’d have no problem getting a Home Depot credit card, but what is with the $400.00 minimum? Is that an introductory minimum, or the the standard minimum purchase requirement each time you use their credit?
And is 6 months no payments an inroductory offer, or is that the approximate time until they send your account to collections?
Thanks, Glen
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by gordon menninger
Posted by gordon menninger on February 28, 2002 at 22:19:22:
why do you even want to invest in a bad area?? You are asking for trouble… yeah, your cash flow might be good, but do you want to have to deal with non paying bad tenants who you constantly have to deal with and evict??? No thanks! Buy a fixer in a good area not in the ghetto no matter how cheap
Re: How’s that? - Posted by GL(ON)
Posted by GL(ON) on March 02, 2002 at 15:29:51:
So far as I know it is a standard practice at Home Depot. If you buy $400 worth of stuff or more, you don’t have to pay for it for 6 months. You don’t have to pay any payments. And there is no interest.
Check at your local Home Depot to make sure.
I think the $400 minimum is because they don’t want you charging $1.98 then waiting 6 months. That would be ridiculous. But if you are doing a fairly major project, then they will give you a deal on the payments to get your business. After all if you were a contractor or builder buying in quantity, you could go to any lumber yard or hardware store and get 10% off for the asking.
Re: Where to get cheap building material? - Posted by Paul S
Posted by Paul S on March 01, 2002 at 20:31:01:
I think you have the wrong guy- better read my post again. Thanks,
Paul