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Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 6:59:47 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
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http://www.radiantguard.com/

ok- this thread should appeal to many. i watched many of the DIY shows- flip this house etc. As you know- I am now a proud home owner.

It is easy to sink 40k into a place- and show minumal results.

I appraise out at 55k. The here and now for this location- is 70k. Folks spending 70k will go to a pricier zip code. Thats the 2007 reality. So- I can sink 15k in here- and not "overimpprove"

Il like to hear your experiences, good and bad. per home improvements.

As tempted as it is to go shopping for furniture- I next will address the horrible windows and insulation here. This investmment will pay for itself in 3-5 years.

My brother actually is excited to help me out. I would pay for his 2 helpers and materials. They would come in from Chicago for a week.

A few yrs back i had weatherization come- and man- they could have replaced windows but instead foamed everywhere.

OK- so I have 2-3 guys for 1 week- to do this place. its up to me- the stuff i choose.

lets hear ideas..... please

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 11:10:35 AM

Sinergy

Posts: 9383
Joined: 4/26/2004
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My first house I purchased for under 100k. It was probably the last house sold in LA for that low an amount of money.

I redid the hardwood floors myself. The most difficult one was the one that looked like the previous owner dropped a jigsaw on it after changing the oil in his Harley.

I brought in a 20amp electrical service and rewired the place. I had a professional do this. I have done electrical at work, but it was my day off.

Hired a plumber to replumbed the bathroom.

I ripped up the kitchen and bathroom linoleum and put down new linoleum, then I ripped all the cabinets out and put up new ones in both the kitchen and bathroom.

I installed ceiling fans throughout.

Got permitted and added an office.

I built a front and back porch.

I built a new fence.

I landscaped the yard. Planted a bunch of fruit trees.

I ripped out and installed new windows including a planter box window in the kitchen.

Had to do a major repair on the roof.

Sold the house after 5 years for 230k.

Sinergy

_____________________________

"There is a fine line between clever and stupid"
David St. Hubbins "This Is Spinal Tap"

"Every so often you let a word or phrase out and you want to catch it and bring it back. You cant do that, it is gone, gone forever." J. Danforth Quayle

(in reply to pahunkboy)

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 11:33:36 AM

juliaoceania

Posts: 21383
Joined: 4/19/2006
From: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sinergy

My first house I purchased for under 100k. It was probably the last house sold in LA for that low an amount of money.

I redid the hardwood floors myself. The most difficult one was the one that looked like the previous owner dropped a jigsaw on it after changing the oil in his Harley.

I brought in a 20amp electrical service and rewired the place. I had a professional do this. I have done electrical at work, but it was my day off.

Hired a plumber to replumbed the bathroom.

I ripped up the kitchen and bathroom linoleum and put down new linoleum, then I ripped all the cabinets out and put up new ones in both the kitchen and bathroom.

I installed ceiling fans throughout.

Got permitted and added an office.

I built a front and back porch.

I built a new fence.

I landscaped the yard. Planted a bunch of fruit trees.

I ripped out and installed new windows including a planter box window in the kitchen.

Had to do a major repair on the roof.

Sold the house after 5 years for 230k.

Sinergy

Home improvements are just so sexy. Seriously, whenever you talk like this I get hot and bothered

_____________________________

Once you label me, you negate me ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Reality has a well known Liberal Bias ~ Stephen Colbert

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 1:47:42 PM

StellaByStarlite

Posts: 790
Joined: 2/10/2007
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About 13 years ago, my parents bought a split-level ranch in the country. They painted, did some light landscaping, and threw on some wallpaper, then sold it a few years later for 20 grand more then they paid for it.

but then again.. property value went up in that area all across the board.

The Mister and I bought our first house 2 years ago and we're just now getting started with the landscaping. We're not really in it to increase re-sell value, though. This will be the house we will grow old in. =)

(in reply to pahunkboy)

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 1:55:23 PM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
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i picked up 5 windows today- the place was going out of business,= decent windows- $20. i want to go back as they had more.

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 6:58:42 PM

petdave

Posts: 2479
Status: offline

A house for $55k and windows for $20? Is this house located in 1973?

The house-flipping shows always say that the kitchen and master bathroom sell a house, and the trends i've seen in architecture seem to bear this out. Open and bright are the keywords. While you've got the walls torn open, see if you can put in larger windows. Depending on age, make sure the electrical is up to code. Install ceiling fans. Don't go crazy with landscaping unless you're doing it for you. When you do buy furniture and/or cabinets, buy quality- look for solid woods and dovetailed drawers. If you re-do the hardware in one room (door handles, doorstops, exposed hinges, etc) do it in all adjoining rooms at the same time, otherwise it'll be discontinued by the time you go to do the next room and nothing will match.

Good luck!

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 8:46:40 PM

Vendaval

Posts: 10297
Joined: 1/15/2005
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Wow! What a bargain. What else have they got that you can use?

_____________________________

"Beware, the woods at night, beware the lunar light.
So in this gray haze we'll be meating again, and on that
great day, I will tease you all the same."
"WOLF MOON", OCTOBER RUST, TYPE O NEGATIVE

http://KinkMeet.co.uk

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 9:23:51 PM

BrutalDemon

Posts: 85
Joined: 7/10/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

Home improvements are just so sexy. Seriously, whenever you talk like this I get hot and bothered

Kewl... another chat-up line to add to my already varied arsenal...

"Hey, baby... wanna come back to my place and look at my rewiring?"

_____________________________

Old enough to know better... but still young enough to not care

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 9:38:19 PM

Sinergy

Posts: 9383
Joined: 4/26/2004
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quote:

ORIGINAL: petdave

A house for $55k and windows for $20? Is this house located in 1973?
The house-flipping shows always say that the kitchen and master bathroom sell a house, and the trends i've seen in architecture seem to bear this out. Open and bright are the keywords. While you've got the walls torn open, see if you can put in larger windows. Depending on age, make sure the electrical is up to code. Install ceiling fans. Don't go crazy with landscaping unless you're doing it for you. When you do buy furniture and/or cabinets, buy quality- look for solid woods and dovetailed drawers. If you re-do the hardware in one room (door handles, doorstops, exposed hinges, etc) do it in all adjoining rooms at the same time, otherwise it'll be discontinued by the time you go to do the next room and nothing will match.

Good luck!

I did that stuff to live in the house.

Then the size of my family increased.

I suppose I could go into what I did to the second house...

Sinergy

_____________________________

"There is a fine line between clever and stupid"
David St. Hubbins "This Is Spinal Tap"

"Every so often you let a word or phrase out and you want to catch it and bring it back. You cant do that, it is gone, gone forever." J. Danforth Quayle

(in reply to petdave)

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/17/2007 9:47:41 PM

juliaoceania

Posts: 21383
Joined: 4/19/2006
From: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
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quote:

suppose I could go into what I did to the second house...

Sinergy

Be still my heart, please do

_____________________________

Once you label me, you negate me ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Reality has a well known Liberal Bias ~ Stephen Colbert

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/18/2007 11:33:19 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
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From: Central Pennsylvania
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Julia- i could never work at a harware store. teh eye candy....yummm

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RE: Home imp 4 dummies!! [+/-] - 4/18/2007 2:50:19 PM

Vendaval

Posts: 10297
Joined: 1/15/2005
Status: offline

mmm....hardward stores, buff men in tight jeans holding
power tools...

_____________________________

"Beware, the woods at night, beware the lunar light.
So in this gray haze we'll be meating again, and on that
great day, I will tease you all the same."
"WOLF MOON", OCTOBER RUST, TYPE O NEGATIVE

http://KinkMeet.co.uk

(in reply to pahunkboy)

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Post #: 12