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Wholetailing – The Best of All Worlds

In what is arguably one of the most bizarre real estate markets in history, finding good deals is like finding toilet paper and sanitizer during a pandemic. The good news is, if you actually land a good deal, there has never been a time in history when it has been easier to sell.

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” This statement by Abraham Maslow pretty much sums up how most newer investors look at flipping houses. HGTV has made aspiring real estate moguls think that every house must be given the Chip & Joanna treatment in order to have a successful buy/sell transaction.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but if you actually find and close on a good deal that needs some work, the more money you put into it, the less profit you are likely to make. This is especially true if you are a newer investor without much experience in managing a rehab. Unless you are simply doing carpet, paint and fixtures, you will likely make more profit by simply cleaning out, cleaning up and listing a property for sale, as-is. This is called wholetailing.

A wholetail is the perfect way to disposition a property in an extreme sellers’ market. Period. Less work, less holding time, less risk, and still good margins. Cosmetically distressed starter homes in good areas are the holy grail of real estate deals during housing shortages like the one we are in now. They can be sold to both investors and DIY homeowners who really want to be in a certain part of town or a specific school district. At Red Ladder Property Solutions, these types of properties are ones that we prefer over all others.

Instead of giving yourself brain damage by figuring out what wall you can move or whether you should go with quartz or granite, grab some cleaning supplies and gas up the lawn mower. That’s almost all you are going to need in order to make a good profit.

Check back with me when we fall into a recession, and I will go over how superior rehabbing is…

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Paint Color Matching

Have you ever not been able to get a usable paint chip to use for color matching? If so, you are not alone. I recently discovered a cool product called ColorSnap Match from Sherwin Williams. It is a small, battery operated device that is simple to use and integrates with an app to help find your matching paint color. There are other similar products out there, but ColorSnap is the only one I have personally used.

In one of my smartest moments, I backed my truck into my garage door before it was all the way up, creasing and ruining the bottom panel of the steel garage door. I obviously needed to be able to close the door to secure the house for safety reasons, so I needed to get a replacement panel in a hurry. Of course, it was the wrong color, so I needed to paint it to match our other garage door. Obviously, getting a paint chip off of a steel door is almost impossible, so I found ColorSnap after doing some research and decided to try it.

Basically, you just charge the battery, calibrate it by pushing the button while the cap is on, download and login to the app, then you are good to go.

Just take off the cap, put the device on the color you are trying to match, and push the button. The app will then pull up the Sherwin Williams colors that are the closest match to the desired color.

Pretty cool, huh? Then you can just call SW and let them know the color and amount of paint you need and go pick it up. Pretty slick.

Sometimes there isn’t an exact match, but it will tell you that when you pull up the closest matches.

This will also be really handy for trying to find a match for old interior paint in rentals in case you need to paint one wall and not another. I know I go through this all the time when one wall has a bunch of nail holes, but the wall next to it is perfectly fine.

Hopefully this helps – it was about 60 bucks, but should pay for itself the first time you use it when you don’t have to repaint a wall.

Happy matching!

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How to Add Cheap Curb Appeal

It seems like spring is still a smoking hot time for selling houses fast in Omaha, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse and countrywide protests. But, it is still crucial to keep an eye on your bottom line when selling your house. These are some inexpensive improvements you can make to the exterior of your home to bring in a horde of buyers.

Add Mulch and Bright Flowers in the Spring and Summer

Adding some dark brown mulch and some bright, hardy flowers just makes a house feel like home. Daylilies and Lavender are impossible to kill, which comes in handy when you have a brown thumb like me.

Paint the Front Door a Bold Color

A pop of pastel is popular now, and can be eye-catching when potential buyers are driving or walking by the house. Cheap, fast, easy – exactly what you want in a project.

Mow and Edge the Lawn

Getting an unruly yard under control by mowing regularly is fairly obvious, but don’t forget about edging. It makes for sharp lines to add a nice finishing touch on your lawn. This is a great bang-for-buck improvement you can make for very little expense.

Adding Shutters or Painting Existing Shutters

Shutters are not all that expensive, and can really add some curb appeal when you are selling a house. It makes a plain, boring exterior look really sharp.

Exterior Paint

I would be remiss if I did not mention exterior paint for adding curb appeal. It makes a huge difference, but just make sure you choose your color scheme wisely. Remember, you are not going to be living in the home, so the name of the game is to appeal to as many buyers as possible with your color choices.

If you have a typical starter house in the Omaha area and you are getting charged more than about $2500 to paint the exterior of a house, you are getting ripped off (unless there is a LOT of prep or sanding involved).

Pressure Washing

Wash that gray right out of your flip

I personally think that pressure washing blows away almost everything else in ROI. It makes a dramatic difference in almost every material on the exterior of a house. Not just siding, but sidewalks, decks, fences, driveways, even roofs can be pressure washed.

Bust out the ‘ol pressure washer for a day and you are going to put extra thousands into your bottom line. I just bought this one and have used it on several projects. It works great and should be sufficient for almost any home project.

Garage Door Bling

Blown your budget and don’t have much left for the outside? Don’t worry, we have all been there. If your loose change won’t cover a fancy carriage door, you can spend under $50 and add some hardware to your boring old door to make it look like there is a nice, new Tesla parked inside.

What are your favorite ways to spruce up the outside of your house?