Your paint estimate is way high if you want to do the work yourself. 1 gal of paint will cover approx 350 sq ft. You can get contractor grade paint in a 5 gal bucket for about $75 or so. Don’t get me wrong, it’s better to overestimate a little. I’m just saying you could cut that down some.
For the flooring, decide what you want to use and what grade of material to help narrow down that cost.
The flooring is something that I’m not sure I want to do myself. I’ve laid tile before and it took me all weekend long (3 FULL DAYS) to get it all done and that was only about 200sq ft. I haven’t done such a large area before. Also, I’ve never done other material other than granite.
Everything else I will most likely do myself. I may do the flooring as well to keep cost down. The roof is 2 story so I will need a new ladder (or whatever I need to use to get up there).
Also forgot to add that the condensers for both units aren’t there and the seller stated that he took them out so they wouldn’t get stolen. He said he would have them put back in at closing, but wouldn’t guarantee they work. So I may need some a/c work as well (depending on what he leaves me with).
A thought…
Any time I rent a property, for the analysis side of things, I use market rents…not Section 8. This applies even if my plan and desire is to attract Section 8. That way, if for some reason Section 8 doesn’t end up being the right fit or you don’t find a Section 8 tenant in a reasonable timeframe, your numbers were based on what you could get renting to someone on the market.
The other downside of Section 8 (that I’m currently living through…again) is that oftentimes it takes a longer period of time to get them moved in. We found tenants back in August who are section 8, wanting to move in, but with all the inspections, busy phone lines at the section 8 office and other unexpected delays on their side, it was two months before the tenants moved in. Essentially, we’ve lost six weeks of rent. I’ll be happy when it’s coming in like clockwork each month, but I have to wonder whether it’s worth it.
Good luck with your duplex purchase!
FYI, this offer is going to be for a property owned by Fannie Mae if that makes a difference on what I can offer or what they’ll accept.
How long has he been trying? If he is trying after 60 days on the market, his rent is too high for the market.
25 days