Duplex Renovations

The smartest move I ever made in renovating was to hire a painter for this property! There were several minor fixes needed, but the major tasks were prepping and painting the walls, trim, ceilings, and doors, as well as putting all new floors and some new trim in both units.

Any time I renovate a rental, I think about what is most cost effective and the most “tenant-proof,” meaning something that is hard to tear up. An example of that is laying tile floors. I taught myself to lay tile floors when I renovated my house. If it is practical, I always lay tile in my rentals because it’s a floor that’s very difficult to tear up. Worst case is a broken tile, in which case I can replace that single tile and grout around it again. For this reason I always buy plenty of extra tile and an extra bag of grout. If I need to replace either 10 years down the road, chances are that that exact match will not be sold anymore.

I like to do tile kitchens and bathrooms in my rentals, where water is likely to get on the floor. I also think a laminate hardwood floor in the living room gives the place a very nice touch. The laminate floor will last much longer than carpet and is a very attractive sales point to potential tenants. I do carpet for the bedrooms, as I believe people would like a soft and warm floor in the bedroom. I ended up having to get a new heating and air system for one of the units, but with my “HVAC guy” I got a great deal at only $3,100 parts and labor for the whole system! I ended up making both sides like brand new including the new HVAC system for only $10,000. I was very pleased with the outcome. The duplex brings $1,050 per month and costs me about half that!