Update: Rat House, Podcast and Quora

Happy Friday! Hope you’re doing well. 🙂

Things are slowly getting back to normal. I’ve recovered from the snow storm. But honestly, it was such a traumatic experience. Not just for myself. But for all Texans.

Unfortunately, there are still families out there without running water. Especially in apartment complexes where management has not addressed the issue. And plumbers are very busy making repairs. So not everyone has their pipes fixed just yet.

Rat House

Despite everything, I’ve made progress on the “rat house.” Fortunately, I had no issues with plumbing during the snow storm.

Per my heating and air conditioning guy, I kept the furnace on and had the thermostat set at 50 degrees to make sure the house (and pipes) kept at a steady temperature. According to him, if the weather outside falls below 40 degrees (which it did) the heat should be at 50 degrees at least to prevent any pipes freezing or bursting due to the weather.

Painting

So one thing I was able to get done was have the house painted entirely on the inside. This included the ceiling, the walls, the doors, and the closets. Here are pics:

(Note: As you can see, painting and texturing the guest bathroom made a world of difference regarding the overall look and feel of the room. Before painting and texturing, the room had the old panel style on the walls which made it feel outdated. Though I had to spend extra to texture and paint the bathroom, it makes a difference to potential buyers and renters.)

(Note: One thing I did was paint the doors. As you can see from the “before” pics, the doors were more of a brownish-wood color which made it look outdated. By painting the doors white, I am giving the home a different look. All of the door hinges and knobs will be replaced with new ones making it look more modern.)

Next Steps

As you can see, painting the entire home on the inside (including the ceiling, closets and even the doors) makes a big difference with the overall look and feel of the home. Since I work in higher-end parks, I wouldn’t skip this step. You have to just cater your mobile home fix ups to the type of clientele the park attracts.

Regarding next steps, I’m hoping to get the new cabinets and countertops for the kitchen in soon. My cabinet guy says they should come in sometime this week.

In the meantime, I’ve got my handyman working on a few small projects around the home. Doing them now saves time and money.

Speaking of time, I’m also meeting with flooring contractors to get estimates of new flooring for the home. In the past, I’ve done a mixture of carpet and luxury vinyl plank (LVT). Again, since I’m dealing with a more higher-end type of clientele I have to spend the extra money to make these homes presentable. This way, they sell much faster.

(Note: In the past, I’ve gone the cheap route when doing mobile home fix ups in high-end parks. Unfortunately, it made things harder to sell. My homes sat longer and I had to continue marketing. Had I spent a little bit more money to make the homes look nicer, I would have saved a lot of time.)

Podcast

As for the podcast, it’s doing great. Thank you so much for listening. Especially those who have left a review. I really appreciate your support!

By the way, if you’ve enjoyed the podcast so far I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for tuning in! 🙂

New Store

If you haven’t checked it out yet, definitely visit the new store. I’ve got a lot of books up there that can help you as a real estate investor. Plus, I’m continuing to add new books. So be sure to follow me on my Amazon author page!

Just in case you missed it, I talk about the importance of writing things down in episode #22 of the podcast if you’d like to check it out.

Quora

Lastly, I’ve got an update on my Quora profile. I recently hit 250,000 views on my content for answering questions about mobile home investing and real estate investing. How cool is that? 🙂

Wrapping It Up

That’s about it for now. I’ve got a lot of things in the works. Plus, I got really backed up due to the snow storm. So, I’m trying to catch up. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now!

Though, I did want to leave you with a great movie I just saw called Minari if you’re in the mood for a good flick. I highly recommend it. Here’s the trailer if you’d like to check it out:

Definitely check out this film, if you have the time!

As always, if you have any mobile home investing related questions definitely let me know. I’d love to hear about what you’ve been up to. 🙂

Until next time, happy investing!