The Reality of Residential Rehabs by Otto Ruebsamen

...Residential rehabs can be residential properties that are bought and renovated to function as a commercial or office space or vice versa. Sometimes, commercial spaces are bought to be renovated into a residential space. The biggest problems in buying spaces and investing in residential rehabs arise with people suffering from poor planning, over confidence and limited knowledge. Rehabbing is a complex, professional project and having some home-improvement experience alone will not help. There are many who consider residential rehabs to be risky simple because they once wanted to invest in real estate and ended up buying property for rehab without knowing what exactly they should do. This results in mismanaged money, loss and waste of time and energy due to deadline lapses. Projects regarding residential rehabs should be given the same importance and professional care that you would give a large scale commercial project.

There are a few things to pay attention to when you plan to invest in residential rehabs.

1. Personal vs. professional - Residential rehabs, unlike commercial projects offer you a choice. They can either be done by you or you can hire a professional to do it for you. By doing it yourself you can save on money. Whereas, if you hire someone to do it for you they will take much less time, but you will have to pay them and constantly supervise them. Weigh the pros and cons of both along with your professional experience in the area before you make the call; as residential rehabbing demands professional expertise.

2. Estimating costs - First, before making any form of investment, it is absolutely vital to research and find out exactly how much it would cost you. Unless you are sure about this, whether your rehab project will be profitable to you or not cannot be estimated. The biggest expenses to be considered are roofing, plumbing, structure and electrical repairs. Also, evaluate the location of the property, neighborhood and the facilities available. This will allow you to understand whether investing in that property is advisable or not.

3. Legal issues - All the four important areas that when it comes to residential rehabs, which need primary attention, also require a legal permit. Windows also need permission, but since the important areas are most expensive, the law is much stricter about permits for them. You can do some of the rehabbing on your own on the weekends to avoid obtaining permits, but it is at high risk. If city officials spot you rehabbing without permits, they will cite you for an offense. I strictly recommend sticking by the law.