I just purchased a 5 unit building thats pretty old. All of a sudden I have two vacancies and want to take advantage of the time to do a little rehab. There are so many things I can do, but the area probably won’t warrant over rehabbing iot, although it has been improving over the last couple of years. I am going to replace all the flooring and paint both units, but after that we’re not sure. I’ve got some old metal base and wall kitchen cabinets that I’m debating about. I’d like to replace the cabinets, but I don’t want to spend too much. I have no problem buying used ones. I’d even consider buying 5 full sets of ktichen cabinests if could get a deal. they are in the Palm Desert Area of California. Any ideas?
Sheblardin, if the cabinets themselves are in good shape you can get new doors for much cheaper, and put them on the existing cabinets. I don’t know the condition of your cabinets, but just thought I’d throw that out there.
If they are not high income producing yet to justify the cost, Priming/Painting the cabinets along with new door handles can get you by. I’ve done this to one of the units and it turned out really good. My alternative if it didn’t turn out good was to buy a complete kitchen cabinet set from IKEA for around $550. Half/Most of Ikea’s stuff isn’t that durable and I wouldn’t recommend it for durability in rental units but the basic white cabinets they had for $550 was pretty durable and comparable to units sold had Home Depot/Lowes/Menards for 1/2 or 1/3 of the price.
Deal with some of the discount cabinet makers or brands in town, maybe check into some of the worse areas in the city or whatnot, its where my great contacts are for these things.
You will be able to negotiate atleast 15% off if you buy 3 - 5 sets of cabinets all from the same place. I once lined up three customers in one month for new cabinets and a place that already was giving me good pricing hacked about 15% off for a bulk order.
Used probably isn’t a great idea. If you are going to do work on the place, just go the whole way with it. Kitchens are important, and if you keep durability in mind, they will pay you off in the long run. Good durable countertops / sink. Same with floor, make sure you get commercial grade tile or hardwood.
Refinishing is ok for nice solid wood cabinets that are just seeing their age on the finish. I think its dumb to waste money when the cabinets themselves are rotted and old. Its also expensive, refinishing and new doors/hardware may cost up to 50% of the materials cost of new cabinets (maybe 30-40% if counting new cabinet installation labor).
Just saw a recent post above while I was typing my first response. I wasn’t even aware Ikea sold cabinets! $550 for a whole set? Thats outrageous. Even the Thomasvilles at depot are probably minimum 2500$ for a small kitchen. Are you talking floors and uppers + hardwares?
I guess I’m just not too versed in small kitchen discount cabinet sets. I would think its a worthwhile investment to get heavy dovetailed drawers, heavy solid wood shelves, solid wood body. Not necessarily the silly yuppy finish upgrades, but good cabinets basically last forever, and I would think are great for taking tenant abuse.
I’d put all the money into the durability and quality, and go cheap on finish work, base trims, crown mold…
I would say the average set of cabinets I’ve installed has been about $7500 though so I’ve adapted differently.