Tenant Trashed My Property | What It Looks Like Now

What's up you guys? It's Graham here! So today is gonna be a really special video because what you're about to see has taken six months to put together. This has really been quite the journey that's about to come to an end.

So for those who have not been following along, let me bring everyone up to speed about what's been happening. And also, quick thank you to Simply Safer for sponsoring this video, but more on that later.

So here's where all of this starts: back in December of 2019. Wow, hear me speak there! December of 2019. I say that like it was such a long time ago! Okay, six months ago, a longtime tenant moved out of one of my properties. Even though they were great tenants, and I was sad to see them go, when they moved, they left behind quite a mess.

Because the unit was so old to begin with, the entire thing really had to be gutted and taken down to the studs. So those who want to know what it looked like by the time I got the keys back, here you go! So here we have the living room, which team did the floors, replaced lighting, added, and the entry to the dining room expanded.

Then we have the dining area, which needed the entire acoustic ceiling replaced, and this giant wall leading to the kitchen had to be knocked down. The kitchen itself was pretty dated. There was a lot of wasted space towards the back where the laundry would go, and it just needed to be torn down and started over from scratch.

Now this first bedroom here didn't need a lot of work, even though it's incredibly messy. But because of some major floor plan issues, this needs a complete overhaul. Because once we go down the hallway, we get into the only bathroom in the entire unit, which wouldn't be so weird on its own until you realize that you need to walk through this bathroom in order to get to the master bedroom in the back.

Needless to say, this unit has a very long way to go. Wait, wait, what? Why is the like button here? Oh yeah, that's right! It's there until you smash the like button for the YouTube algorithm, and then it finally goes away! Because if you don't do that, this like button just follows me around everywhere.

So smash the like button for the algorithm because it greatly helps out my channel! This thing is gonna go away. Okay, there it goes, thank you so much, and we'll get back to the video.

Anyway, because this unit is in a part of Los Angeles that commands a price above $3,000 a month, I knew I had to go above and beyond with this and make it as clean and nice as possible. The plan was to spend about $65,000 to $85,000 to knock down the kitchen wall, replace the ceiling, add new lighting, add a second bathroom, rearrange the floor plan so the master bedroom could have its own bathroom, and add in sliding doors to the side and backyard.

So in my mind, I thought this was gonna be like a three-month project or so. But oh no, that didn’t happen. We started this off by demolishing the entire unit, and that's where some of the problems arose. Immediately after removing the drywall, we noticed quite a lot of damage around several of the windows, meaning now it's gonna cost extra.

The ceiling joists were also old and sagging down, so those needed to be replaced. Some of the plumbing was just way too old as well, so it makes sense to just get it replaced now than wait another five years and spend more money to do it later. Well, guess what? That's when the price of fixing this up really started adding up.

Not only was the price of well-qualified, licensed, and insured labor way more expensive than I anticipated, but there were so many other little problems that just needed to be addressed and the budget kept expanding faster than Jerome Powell's money printer. Within about two months of starting a project, the cost to remodel everything and finish it began to exceed $100,000.

And this is why I typically advise anyone who wants to go and remodel a property to keep these two things in mind: one, always expect that your project is gonna be costing 25% more than you think it will because trust me, it's gonna cost more. And two, always expect the project is going to take you twice as long as you think it will because it will.

If you just follow that, you'll be okay and you'll know how to prepare yourself. And even though in the back of my head I knew this project was going to be taking me longer than a few months and a little bit more than $85,000, things just started to get even more expensive.

Three months later, we were done with most of the internals. The joists were replaced, the framing was installed, and the plumbing was integrated to make room for a new master bathroom in the master bedroom. So you really get to have a sense of the overall layout and how it's all coming together.

But it was around that time that we began getting delayed due to the illness going around, and many manufacturers are shipping out their products at a much slower rate. At that point, there was really nothing else I could do besides either just be patient and wait for things to ship in or pay a lot more money to try to source everything locally.

So really, I ended up with a combination of both. There were some products that I just needed immediately, and those companies ended up charging way more as soon as they realized they were the only ones who had them in stock.

Things like the countertops and appliances could be evaluated later at a point where we actually needed them. This is also at the time I made the decision to go and replace all the wiring in the unit as well while all the drywall was out. Even though it may have been able to leave it as is, a lot of it was from the 1920s and 1950s, and at that point when it's about a hundred years old, I just figured I may as well get it done now.

So yeah, that was fun, and that was almost another ten thousand dollars to do the whole thing. Anyway, a few weeks later, this is what it looked like. March must've the drywall was installed, recessed lighting and new electrical was added, the floors had just arrived, and the hallway bathroom was really coming along nicely, as was the master bathroom.

And finally, you could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But now, almost 2 months later, after continuous delays, the unit is finally finished, and this is what it looks like.

This is the moment you all have been waiting for! Really quick, I want to give a huge thank you to Simply Safe for sponsoring this video through an incredibly effective, reliable home security system that makes sure your home is safe. You can order one online or over the phone, it's delivered directly to your home, and you could set it up yourself in under an hour. After that, your home is professionally monitored 24/7, and if anything happens, they'll make sure the police get called, all for the price of 50 cents a day with no contracts.

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I just plugged in the base station, which happens, by the way, to look very similar to Lana from the Netflix show "Too Hot to Handle." I placed the sensors where I needed them, including motion detectors, door sensors, cameras, and a glass break sensor, and in no time, my home was secure! Plus, they're so small and sleek that you don't even notice they're there, and they're incredibly easy to use.

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So as you can see, you'll walk in and see an expanded entryway with light laminate floors throughout. Now unfortunately, it was going to be way too expensive to save the old original hardwood floors because of how the floor plan had to be rearranged, not to mention those floors were not going to be as durable as these. So I ended up going with this, but underneath these, rest assured, the original hardwood floors are still intact.

Now this entry expands over to the living and dining room where we have a center island, white cabinetry, and a sliding glass door that leads out to the back and side yards. Admittedly, I do think it looks a little bit too modern and sterile as it is right now, but I think once furniture has moved in, it's going to warm the space a lot, because as it is right now, all of these colors just seem to blend together.

So with some furniture accents, it's really gonna come together quite nicely! So now let's go over to the kitchen for a little bit. Remember, this is what it looked like before and then we have this today. As far as the countertops are concerned, I ended up going with a white quartz, and even though yes, this was insanely more expensive than I was planning, it looks nice, it'll be durable, and this is the best value for what I could get with the quality all things considered, especially because the shipping was delayed on my original order.

So I ended up spending a little bit more money and getting something a bit nicer. Now, over on this side, we have both closets and space for the washer and dryer, and then across from that, we have the brand-new bathroom that was just built out! I gotta say, I got a pretty cool mirror! I don't even have as good of a mirror where I live!

So the new tenant hopefully is gonna love this! Look at this! Welcome to the Future, where mirrors officially plug in the wall and then turn off and on! Like, come on, that's crazy! Remember this path through? Never used to be here before, and this was added in because the market value for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom is significantly higher than that of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom.

So I have to say, from pretty much everything done in this unit, adding the bathroom was by far the best value. And then we had the second bedroom that you could see right here. Again, this is what it looked like before and then during the renovation, and now here is what it looks like!

A closet was added along one side of the wall. Then we're gonna be walking down the hallway, and you're gonna notice a huge change! No longer do you need to walk through a bathroom to go into the master bedroom. Now we have a perfect hallway that leads directly to the master bedroom.

Along this side of the wall, we have an oversized closet, and then the bedroom itself has new recessed lighting, a sliding glass door that leads out to the backyard, and then we have a second new bathroom. By the way, both of these mirrors turn off and on as well!

Now this one was one of the most difficult arrangements I've had to figure out with this floorplan because I've wanted to maximize the amount of space that was in here without putting any of it to waste. I have to say, I think it came out rather nice! Along this side, we have a double sink, a vanity with tons of storage, and then the creme de la creme on top of everything—a huge oversized shower.

This is definitely the centerpiece of the bathroom! Bathrooms have centerpieces; it definitely makes a statement, and there's nothing else like it in this price range by far. And in a way, I think that's what's helped me rent this place so quickly!

I was actually kind of nervous about putting this on the market because Los Angeles still has a stay-at-home order in effect, but once I listed this place, I was actually overwhelmed with inquiries to the point where I feel like maybe now I underpriced it. Seriously, I ended up getting so many showings that I was shocked by how much demand there is and how many people right now are looking at moving.

I've noticed almost everyone who's reached out is either in the tech industry, gaming, or has an online business and has not been affected by the shutdown. I think with a lack of inventory right now in the market, the timing of placing this up for lease just happened to work out perfectly.

And I can't disclose exactly how much I'm renting the sound floor because the lease is currently out for signatures, but I can say it's between $3,400 and $3,800 a month, which goes to show you with the right property with higher than normal upgrades, there's a lot of demand out there.

Don't even though I did end up renting this unit extremely quickly, it did end up costing me more money. Now, in terms of how much this unit actually cost me from start to finish, I'm going to have to sit down for this one: one hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars! That's right! One hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars to take it from looking like this as it was to now this today.

This includes the cost of appliances, replacing a water heater, a whole bunch of other stuff that needed to be added on, and this stuff just adds up. On top of that, it took six months to complete. That is a far difference from my eighty-five thousand dollar budget and three to four month time frame.

But thankfully, it did end up paying off, and the new tenant is going to be getting a fantastic unit at a really good price for pretty much everything is brand new. Because this marks the end of the renovation series on this unit with the tenants moving in, here's the main takeaway from this: coming from someone who pretty much invests all of their money in real estate and rental properties like this, here's what I've learned.

One: always do things right from the very beginning and never take any shortcuts. I've learned my lesson every single time I've chosen to make a quick, easy fix or just go with the temporary solution that saves money upfront. Because I'll tell you, long-term, it ends up costing more money and way more time. I promise your future self is going to be thanking you.

Two: some investors might actually disagree with me on this one, but I've always tried to make my rentals as nice as—well, nicer than anything else in the area—so that way people would rather rent my unit than something else. This is usually why I've spent a little bit more money on my properties.

I've always gone a little bit more custom, I've done a few unnecessary upgrades, and I think honestly, if my goal was just to maximize the ROI as fast as possible, then yes, it would make sense just to do the quick, easy template upgrades and that's it.

But I personally found that when I go a little bit nicer on the renovation, I found I get way more tenant applications, way more interest in the property, and that tends to pan out better long-term. For example, my turnover rates on the rental properties are extraordinarily low, and I rarely ever have a vacancy.

I think it's partially due to the reason that I always go above and beyond and I do everything I can to make sure everyone is happy and well taken care of.

Now, three: anytime I do try to rent out a unit, I always try to underprice it just by a little bit to minimize the amount of time it's spent on the market. With this place, I really don't know if I made the mistake of underpricing it a bit too much, but either way, I'm really happy to have it rented within about a day of posting it online.

My whole strategy has always been to just expect to underprice it just by a little bit, get a whole bunch of activity, a whole bunch of interest in the property, then pick the best tenant possible from there. And the person who rents it is going to be very unlikely to leave because they know they're gonna be getting the best deal out there.

Like I said, even though it tends to be a little bit less money upfront, it's more money in the long term because they stay there for so long. And for more important than anything, I always make sure to ask to smash the like button for the YouTube algorithm. No, seriously though! I think good customer service goes a very long way in making sure your tenant is happy, always pays on time, and stays as long as possible.

I really believe that being attentive to every issue is the best way possible to make money as a landlord, especially in a very competitive rental market. And peace of mind especially goes a very long way in making sure your place is going to be well taken care of.

So this is the finale to the remodeling update saga as this comes to an end. But I promise this is not going to be the last project because as soon as another deal comes along, there's going to be another project.

So if you haven't already subscribed, make sure to do that so you're kept up to date with any future projects that come up. And anytime I post update videos like this, I always ask for your guys' opinion!

So feel free to comment it down below, let me know what you think, and of course, I do my best to get to as many comments as I possibly can. So with that said you guys, thank you so much for watching! I really appreciate it! As always, make sure to destroy the like button, subscribe button, and notification bell. Also, feel free to add me on Instagram; I post there pretty much daily if you want to be a part of it.

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Thank you so much for watching, and until next time!