A Common Mistake Most Beginner Investors Make When Flipping Houses
When estimating your rehab budget do you account for security? If not, you should think twice.
I've learned that it pays to secure the house.
Even if you are in a nice neighborhood but especially if you are in the rougher side of town.
There is just something about vacant homes! It screams to the thief, "Come in and take/destroy whatever you like".
If you don't budget for security then budget for replacement rehabbing and damage control.
What prompted this post was a house that caught my eye while walking through a city in North Jersey.
The area is a nice middle class neighborhood.
While walking, I noticed a construction project going on.
I believe they were converting an oversize Victorian Style property into professional offices.
But what caught my eye about this particular house/office were the lights.
I was walking at night and the whole house was lit up.
You can see all the beams and skeletons of the property inside.
I immediately thought, very clever.
It was obvious to me, that this was one of the methods used to deter thieves and secure the property.
As I said the area was pretty nice so I'm sure if anyone notices someone trying to break in the property, they would call the police.
This method of security would have to account for the higher than average electricity bill that would occur in a vacant property but I think it is definitely money well spent.
Oh, I forgot to mention there are large windows everywhere.
There is no way a person can walk in without being notice.
A thief's best option is to break in quickly and turn off the lights.
Lights on at night with a security monitoring system could be a nice combination to secure a property.
One would ask, what is there to steal in a vacant property with beams exposed? Well, I'll tell you what they stole from me, copper pipes! One of my rehabs was a very large home, with 6 bedrooms and 4 baths.
The home also had baseboard heating throughout.
With all the new plumbing work needed to get water flowing, the basement was laced with copper.
They broke through a window and snatched out all the copper pipes that were between the beams throughout the basement.
I was shocked and caught completely off guard.
I had to redo over $3000 worth of plumbing work.
I also had to invest in a security system.
Simply locking the doors on a vacant home isn't good enough.
It was a lesson well learned and they tried to get me again on another house.
It was during a time when I first started the rehab so everything had to go anyway.
What was interesting about the second incident was that they took the water meter.
I just laughed.
There is never a dull moment! Moral of the article, don't get caught blindsided.
I never thought about security or thieves when I first started rehabbing but I quickly got educated.
Security is a must, all the time.
Don't over look this part of rehabbing.
The expense for damage will definitely outweigh the expense to secure the place.
I've learned that it pays to secure the house.
Even if you are in a nice neighborhood but especially if you are in the rougher side of town.
There is just something about vacant homes! It screams to the thief, "Come in and take/destroy whatever you like".
If you don't budget for security then budget for replacement rehabbing and damage control.
What prompted this post was a house that caught my eye while walking through a city in North Jersey.
The area is a nice middle class neighborhood.
While walking, I noticed a construction project going on.
I believe they were converting an oversize Victorian Style property into professional offices.
But what caught my eye about this particular house/office were the lights.
I was walking at night and the whole house was lit up.
You can see all the beams and skeletons of the property inside.
I immediately thought, very clever.
It was obvious to me, that this was one of the methods used to deter thieves and secure the property.
As I said the area was pretty nice so I'm sure if anyone notices someone trying to break in the property, they would call the police.
This method of security would have to account for the higher than average electricity bill that would occur in a vacant property but I think it is definitely money well spent.
Oh, I forgot to mention there are large windows everywhere.
There is no way a person can walk in without being notice.
A thief's best option is to break in quickly and turn off the lights.
Lights on at night with a security monitoring system could be a nice combination to secure a property.
One would ask, what is there to steal in a vacant property with beams exposed? Well, I'll tell you what they stole from me, copper pipes! One of my rehabs was a very large home, with 6 bedrooms and 4 baths.
The home also had baseboard heating throughout.
With all the new plumbing work needed to get water flowing, the basement was laced with copper.
They broke through a window and snatched out all the copper pipes that were between the beams throughout the basement.
I was shocked and caught completely off guard.
I had to redo over $3000 worth of plumbing work.
I also had to invest in a security system.
Simply locking the doors on a vacant home isn't good enough.
It was a lesson well learned and they tried to get me again on another house.
It was during a time when I first started the rehab so everything had to go anyway.
What was interesting about the second incident was that they took the water meter.
I just laughed.
There is never a dull moment! Moral of the article, don't get caught blindsided.
I never thought about security or thieves when I first started rehabbing but I quickly got educated.
Security is a must, all the time.
Don't over look this part of rehabbing.
The expense for damage will definitely outweigh the expense to secure the place.
