Renovations to Rental No. 1

The majority of foreclosures that are sold are in pretty bad shape. Typically, when people know they are going to lose their house, they cease to maintain it, and the foreclosure can be a process of several months to a couple years. Fortunately, my first rental house was in pretty decent shape, which made it an attractive buy for the price. There were a couple major renovations I needed to make to the house before renting it for the first time. The first, was installing central heat and air. I got a new system installed for $4,500, which is far cheaper than most companies quote. The house had baseboard heaters when I bought it, and one window unit air conditioner in the living room. The opposite end of the house would be terribly hot since there was one source of cold air, and adding window unit air conditioners was not an option since the windows were the type that slide left to right. The second major renovation, was replacing the kitchen cabinets and counter tops, and installing a back-splash.

This renovation wasn’t necessary, however I wanted to go ahead and do it as I had in mind selling the house in the next 5 years. There were a few miscellaneous renovations as well, totaling about $10,000 all together.