Getting Started

Make Money in Real Estate

It would be nice if making money in real estate was easy. Unfortunately to make money in real estate requires a lot of time and effort. The only way to really profit buyiing and selling real estate is to do the work yourself. DIY home remodeling will yield the most profit for your labors.

Finding the right property in the right location is key as well. The old saying “Location, loacation, location” has a lot of truth behind it. Typically your property search should be for a home in a desired location that is relatively cheaper than surrounding properties. Buy low and sell high is what we’re after here. Things to consider would be accessibilty to interstates and convience stores. How good are the schools? Are the taxes reasonable?

I was able to find a home close to shopping, interstates and great schools. Luckily there was also a couple of home centers close to help with buying supplies for my home remodel. My small two bedroom one bath home was in a great location for a DIY home remodeling project. The plan was to remodel and live in the house for a couple years then sell and hopefully make money in real estate for the first time.

Initially the old home was going to need lots of remodeling. I was able to purchase the home cheap as it was in need of alot of repair. I think one  must really strive to have a open mind when looking at real estate. I kept a vision of how I wanted it to turn out and made it happen. Keeping my goal in mind the whole way through the remodeling project kept me on track. I new the payoff would be good in the end and my labor would be worth the effort.

The cost to remodel a home would have to be limited in order to keep the selling price reasonable for the real estate market at the time. I took a good look at the scope of the entire project and all my resources to keep my cost to remodel at a minimum. Fortunately I created a list of all my expenses of the cost to remodel a home. Check it out, it may give you an idea of what it would take financially to do your own home remodel.

Throughout my remodeling project I took lots of pictures. People have different tastes but hopefully you will find my remodeling pictures useful to give you inspiration to make money in real estate with your home remodeling projects.

Remodeling a Home Requires Lots of Labor

  The person I bought the house from got a fair price from myself. I think both parties were happy in the end. The seller was rid of huge remodeling project.
  The house had been vacant for at least two years. The previous owner had already gutted the interior and had a new roof installed. Having the interior gutted already proved to be a big help. I was able to modify the structure as needed to suit my taste. In addition it was less work that I had to do as far as a demolition project goes.
  The roof had been recently updated which was a plus. The fact that I didn’t have to work the roof or tear out most of the interior saved a lot of time, effort and money.

  First look of the interior sent my mind spinning. The interior was completely gutted less the ceiling. I mean, all of the walls were just studs. No drywall or plaster to be seen on any wall. Though, the ceiling had been untouched. The floor was covered in all kinds of debris. Quite the mess it was. There were a few spots where the floor had been ripped up. Probably due to some kind of water damage. Two other holes in the floor were for the old chimney stacks that supported old oil burning heaters in the basement. The inside seemed to be divided into four sections. All of which were about the same in size. At least I was able to take a good look at the structure before I had decided to purchase this huge project.
  The previous owner had started on some sort of remodel. Not sure where he was going with it though. He had left behind a refrigerator, which actually worked. I ended up giving it to a coworker. There was a brand new shower stall already in place. Seemed a bit early in the remodeling project to have that installed, but whatever, it came out anyhow.

How to Pay For a Remodeling Project

In most cases people aren’t ready to take on another loan. As is my case. If you plan on paying for your remodeling suplies as you go, I would reccomend making a list of materials needed for each specific project. Go to your local home centers, discount centers, lumber yards and compare prices. I found that the large home improvement centers are higher priced on their products but do offer convenience shopping along with longer store hours. Lumber yards are probably your best bet for cheapest lumber prices. A little bit of shopping around may save lots of dollars in the end. Most of your price shopping can be accomplished by the web or over the phone to save from driving to all the stores.

Tip: Go to your local post office and get a change of address movers paackage. Inside you should find coupons to various stores. Usaually Lowes or Home depot has 10% off coupons inside.
Tip: Request a Lowes 10% off coupon for your next project.
Tip: Request a Home Depot 10% off coupon for your next project.
I usually decide on a project, plan for it, save for it, then get it done when I have saved enough money for the project. It works well and saves you the hassle of repaying a bank loan but on the down side can take a while to finish depending on the extent of the project.
Either way you decide to finance your project, good luck!