4 Reasons You Should Be Going to Real Estate Networking Events
When it comes to finding a great deal, I’ve become a real master. After all, the key to fixing and flipping houses is to get a great deal upfront and then avoid paying too much for your rehabs. You don’t want to do poor work. You want to really bring the house up to its true market value with renovations and rehabs that will excite new buyers when they walk in the front door.
Even though we both love creating gorgeous new houses out of our flip properties, Tarek and I have definitely gotten in some pretty big arguments over the years about what to spend money on and where to save. I’ll admit, I’m a big fan of claw-foot tubs, and maybe not every rehab needs one. However, if I can find enough room in the budget for a luxury item like this that will make my buyers drool, I’m going to find a way. That’s why I shop at some pretty surprising places for rehab supplies for our house flips.
MY CONTRACTORS’ FAVORITE SHOWROOMS AND LUMBERYARDS
Depending on the project and how busy Tarek and I are, we may have our contractors buy their own materials with our approval. Most of the time, though, we find that we can save time and money by buying the materials ourselves and then having our contractors do the work. To find the best places for materials, I’ve had a lot of conversations with our contractors.
These guys are pros who know that if they stay under budget and deliver quality work and materials, they’ll get more work and make better profits. With that in mind, they don’t just buy supplies from any warehouse or showroom. They go with places that will give them the best deal, and I trust their judgment when finding the best places to shop for things like countertops and flooring.
YARD SALES IN THE AREA
This one really shocks people when I tell them, but I hit a lot of yard sales throughout the summer every year. Sometimes I get nothing, but sometimes I find the perfect hardware for a master bathroom renovation or some other detail that would be really expensive if I bought it new.
However, I don’t usually try to buy things from yard sales for the projects we’re working on at the moment. That would waste a lot more time than it would save money, and that just wouldn’t be a winning move. Instead, when I have some time during yard sale season, I take a morning to go look for supplies and details that fit with the styles that we usually stick to with our fix-and-flip houses. Then, if I find a great deal, I grab it for later. Judging by the fact that our storage space isn’t overflowing with yard sale junk, I’d say this is a pretty good strategy.
THE BACK ROOM OF ANY MATERIALS OR HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE
Finally, whenever I’m shopping for something for one of our rehabs in any materials supply store or home improvement store, I always go straight to the back to look at their damaged and last-season items. Some of these things can’t be used, but others don’t need anything but a little hardware or a coat of paint. And they’re massively discounted!
I don’t recommend spending your whole life looking for the perfect deal when a good deal will be good enough, but sometimes it pays to do a little bit of digging. These are my trade secrets for finding rehab supplies at lowered prices. Do you have any surprising places you like to shop?
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