Rehabbing vs Buying like New

For those of you who are currently doing rehab projects, I’m sure it comes as no surprise when I say the cost of materials are sky high. There is no real solution to this problem, the only thing we can do is constantly be on the lookout for the best deals we can possibly find on the products we use the most. Some of the things we buy the most of are things like, skirting material, carpet, carpet padding, paint, interior doors, plywood and vinyl siding.

The other thing that greatly impacts rehab expenses is your labor costs. The labor to pay a quality rehab person can add up quickly. Due to this fact you need to try to have the products necessary for a particular project on hand and ready to go to try to help eliminate any down time which contributes to wasted labor expenses. A quality rehab person, one who really knows what they are doing is worth every penny of what you pay them, the good ones know all the short cuts without compromising quality. They also know the creative and easy ways to make repairs that can save money on materials as well as labor.

The other side of the coin is the opinion that it is better to buy a home that is like new, one that needs very little actual rehab work to be done to it. This line of thinking supports the idea that if you buy a home that needs less work done to it you will save labor costs and material expenses, a home bought like this should need only minor repairs and therefore be ready to sell quicker. All this is true but you will also pay more for that home than the one that needs more work.

There is no clear cut answer as to which one is better, sometimes you will get a steal of a deal and doing the extra rehabbing is well worth the time and labor, other times you can find a deal where the home needs very little work and paying a little extra for it is worth the additional purchase price. My first choice if they were available would be to pay a little more for a home in better shape and have less repairs to do, this makes it possible to complete the minor repairs and get it ready for sale as quickly as possible.

And as those of us who are in the business and have a park with empty spaces fully understand, the name of the game is to fill those empty lots to create lot rent income as well as income from the sale of the home each month.

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