How about positively…terrible??? lol…Never heard of doing that before…might turn off a lot of people…Ceramic tile wouldn’t cost much, takes an afternoon to do, and tenants love it…
Actually, I use a granite tile ($1.68sf at Home Depot) on my countertops…Used to use the formica tops for about $100 each until my employee told me about the tile one time…now I use it all the time…Costs $50 or so for a countertop and looks like a million bucks!..and it’s basically maintenance free…
Okay, you want some ideas for rehabbing?..here’s my 2 cents worth…Wouldn’t mind hearing everybody else’s…(the following are what I do for rentals, not flips)…
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I’ll share this only because I love this site and the people here are fabulous…I don’t tell this to everybody…I get 20% off everytime I walk into Home Depot or Lowe’s (even Sears)…How?..Go to Ebay…You can buy Lowes 10% off coupons all day long for $2-3 each…Home Depot will always take them, and of course Lowes does too…Then buy gift cards, for about 10% off each one…Pay for them with a fraud proof credit card in case the cards don’t have the value they’re supposed to…I got 3 orders that were actually a zero balance on the cards (check them at Lowes or HD before leaving feedback on Ebay) but had no problem in cancelling the transaction with my credit card company (BofA)…So there’s a 20% savings everytime you visit Lowes or HD…I do it religiously and save the 20% each and every time…Can’t even count the thousands of dollars I’ve saved!!!
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Ceramic tile - Use it liberally!..At least kitchen floor, backsplash (so you never have to paint, clean off grease, etc.), hallways (where people normally walk a lot and would put a wear pattern on carpet), bathroom floors/walls (great against the moisture damage), and entryway…
I’ve even done some dining rooms in tile when it looks good with the house…Spend a couple more bucks for good tile, and don’t get white…Get a nice color for just a little bit more money…Makes your places easier to rent when they look like a million dollars…
I even lay it inside closets, believe it or not, simply because it takes almost no time and I’ll never have to touch it again…I love the low maintenance…
Get a 16" or 18" for the floor instead of 12"…It’ll save you tons of time laying it!
Home Depot and Lowes frequently has tile on sale…I’ve bought pallets at a time when it’s cheap…And don’t forget that you’re paying 20% less than the other customers!
Use 4" tile for the backspash…Be sure to lay it BEFORE installing your cabinets…takes under an hour to complete it, but again look at the low maintenance feature!..Be sure to run it under the cabinets…
At the front door entryway, or a hallway leading to the 2 doors to a duplex, I’ll lay an Italian slate for about $3 sf…Costs more, but the total outlay is minor ($25-50?), but people love it when they walk inside!
A bathroom might take you a full day or 2 to tile (around the tub, floor, walls, etc.) but again, it’s so low maintenance it’ll save you time and money in the future, while raising the value of the property for appraisals…
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I go overboard on my closets but tenants love it…I always install a light inside (otherwise, you’d be surprised how dark it can be once you have clothing/boxes in there!), use a double hanging pole, and build shelving on one side from MDF board (fiberboard), plus ceramic tile on the floors…The tenants love the kids rooms with shelving…It might take me half a day to do each closet, but for the 2 days or so I spend per unit it really impresses people, and makes the closet truly functional…It’s one more reason that my turnover has always been exceptionally low even with the Section 8’s I do in Buffalo…They just don’t see this stuff in the millions of other houses they can rent…
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Carpet - I buy it at lowe’s for 65 cents a sf less my 20% discount…Never used hardwood floors but some people tell me it’s better/longer lasting even though it costs more to buy…Any positive/negative experience with this???..The carpet I use for 12’ rolls is a brown diamond design…I’ll give you the name of it later if you want it…For 15’ rolls (depending on the size of the room you’re doing) I use a darker blue color that Lowe’s carries…
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Toilets - Lowes sells complete toilets for $48…Can’t beat the deal…Even includes the guts…
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Bathroom sinks - I always use pedestal sinks, never cabinets, since the door will always get damaged over time…Pedestal sinks also make the bathroom look bigger…Lowes has them for $39 complete…how can you beat that???..
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Paint colors…
Living areas are Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams (mixed at Home Depot in a Glidden mix since it’s cheaper)…Use satin so tenants can clean the walls…
Bathrooms are painted a Glidden color called Main Street…Looks like pea soup, but actually looks great against the lighter tile I use on the walls (a litle darker tile on the floor)…
Kitchen is painted a Glidden color called Quiet Waterfall, a light green color…Again, a perfect color for a kitchen with the tile, etc…Don’t forget that you can also use wainscotting in the kitchen and bathrooms…Lasts a long time and doesn’t cost too much…Takes an hour to do a whole room, at most…
Ceilings - Just a basic ceiling white (flat)…
Wood/doors - ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS paint them semi-gloss white!..the old brown moulding in older homes looks like crap, especially if you’re using tile, etc…the contrast is great…And you always know exactly what color to repaint if you need it…
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I always install ceiling fans in the master bedroom (never kids rooms!), kitchens, dining rooms, and living rooms…they cost $20 at Home Depot for a lighted version…Can’t beat the price for a wonderful touch to a house…Again, it makes a great impression when tenants are looking to rent…And since my Section 8 (i.e., cheap) houses don’t have A/C, the fans are almost a necessity in the hot weather…
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Kitchen cabinets - I always use a stain polyeurethane (before hanging them) and install a real nice cabinet handle from Home Depot for about $1 each…Again, install them while the cabinets are still on the floor…Just makes it so much easier (i.e., saves you time!)…Apply the polyeurethane with a sponge, but rinse out the sponge very well and toss into a can filled with water when you throw it in the trash…Otherwise, they can do their little spontaneous combustion trick and literally catch on fire just from the oxygen…This happened to me one time…:(…I smelled smoke the next morning when I was living upstairs from the unit I polyeuethaned the night before, and left the sponge on top of the poly can…Couldn’t believe I was that stupid not to know what could have happened…
I think that’s enough for one writing…anyway, these are the things I do with my rentals…I have both high end homes ($350k) and low-end ($50k)…I do the same to each house…Doesn’t cost that much money overall for the tile, fans, closets, etc. but the tenants love it when they walk into your house, especially the Section 8 tenants…most of their housing looks like crap (I’ve seen a million of the houses they typically rent)…My tenants have never been a problem (except one with a kid with dirty hands!) and they really take care of the houses since they’re so nice when they move in…and they have no reason to move out of my house into someone else’s who doesn’t do all these touches, so my turnover is “zero”…My cost for all these extras?..Somewhere around $1000 per unit…Well worth the cost for something that’ll last years to come…