Everything wrong with my $100,000 remodel ...

What's up guys? It's Graham here, and I got to say I'm really happy that so many of you have been reaching out to me asking for an update on the status of this renovation. I've been a little hesitant about posting sooner because I wanted to wait until more work had been done, more progress had been made, and there was a little bit more of a substantial update to give. Kind of like with this video today.

I just wish there were more good news, but yet again this thing is just draining money. But anyway, you tell me if you want to see more frequent videos on the status of the remodel—just let me know and I will absolutely do it. And of course, you could let me know by smashing the like button for the YouTube algorithm. Otherwise, I'll probably keep it to every other week or so because typically with a remodel, 80% of the time it looks like this, and it's a constant state of being in a mess.

Then the last two weeks to cosmetic work go incredibly quickly because you get to visually see all the work taking place, everything coming into shape, and then all of a sudden it's done, which I cannot wait for. But back to the topic. To be honest, I did not expect this place to continually go over budget as much as it did. I didn't expect to replace so much, and what started off as a really innocent, like two to three month renovation has really just turned into a massive undertaking that I was not anticipating. Not to mention I just had to spend another ten thousand dollars fixing even more issues with this place.

So with that said, here's what's been happening over here—everything that's gotten done, and wait for it, everything wrong with the unit. By the way, a quick thank you to Simply Safe for sponsoring this video, but more on that later. Now just to bring everyone up to speed who has not seen the first three videos of this renovation series, here's what happened. On December 11th, 2019, I posted a video showing what this unit looked like once the tenant moved out.

This place had been occupied for over ten years, and the prior owner and landlord before me pretty much did no work whatsoever. You know, I don't want to say that the last owner was a slumlord, but if it talks like a slumlord and walks like a slumlord and does not smash the like button through YouTube's algorithm, then it's probably someone that just basically meant that the entire place was left in deteriorating condition. It hadn't been touched in years, and it needed a complete overhaul by the time I took over.

Yes, even though the tenant did leave behind a lot of trash when they vacated the property, I did want to clarify that I let them leave behind whatever they wanted to throw away because it was going to be costing them extra for trash removal. I was just going to be gutting the place anyway, so I offered to throw away whatever they didn't want on their behalf to save them some money. They also got their full security deposit back because, I mean, come on, why would I care about scratches on the floors or scratches in the walls when I'm just going to go and destroy it anyway?

Then in the second update of the series, posted on December 20th, we started tearing apart the unit and going behind the walls to see what was behind. That's where things started to get a bit interesting. Anytime we start a renovation, you never really know what you're getting into until you go behind the walls, and then you see what you're really dealing with.

Because, unfortunately, drywall and paint can cover up a lot of issues that you would have never known about otherwise. For me, one of the issues was having to replace several windows that were just so beyond repair and then having to replace some ceiling joists that were just sagging from old age. This one right over here—well, all of these. In that video, I also discussed some issues with the master bathroom layout. To be honest, it was not something I could easily figure out because it was positioned so weirdly.

Any floor plan idea that was passed by just didn't seem like it would really work when you actually went and measured it out. But I think, now in today's video, we have the solution! Finally! We had the latest video I posted on the series on January 10th of last month when the cost of this unit actually ended up exceeding $100,000. Admittedly, that was way more than I originally anticipated. At first, I was realistically thinking this would be more like sixty-five to eighty-five thousand dollars, somewhere on there, but little did I expect that this would actually turn into a complete rebuild.

By the time we got into it, it turned out qualified labor was way more expensive than I thought, way more things needed to be replaced than I thought. Now that's all fine. I just want this to be done right the first time and last a very long time, but it does get a bit frustrating to see more and more bills just continually start to rack up. Then I'm just secretly thinking to myself, like geez, what next? What else is possible that needs to come up?

And that brings us to today's video. But first, I just want to give a huge thank you to Simply Safe, who decided that they wanted to help me out with this renovation by sponsoring today's video. For those that are not aware, Simply Safe is an easy-to-use customizable home security system that's free from contracts and any hidden fees, and protects like a pro. Having just upgraded its system, Simply Safe devices are now half the size as they were before, with double the range and five times faster speeds.

It's also incredibly easy and intuitive, with 24/7 professional monitoring and three and a half times faster dispatch speeds. Simply Safe is also modern and comprehensive, with devices to protect your home both inside and out. Like with the video doorbell, HD cameras that alert you if anyone approaches your home, smart locks, entry sensors, motion detectors, glass break sensors, and more. That's why experts choose Simply Safe, all for the fair and honest price of fifty cents a day with no contracts.

I personally have door sensors throughout my entire place, glass break sensors, motion detectors, and cameras, so I know exactly what's going on at all times, even if I leave the house. The setup was also incredibly easy, and I did it all myself in less than an hour. They've also just introduced a new Simply Safe lock, and since the majority of break-ins happen through an unlocked entry point, the smart lock is designed so that everything can be secured even if you forget.

You could set up unique access codes so you know exactly who was there. Not to mention, you could lock or unlock the door and give access to anyone while you're anywhere in the world, completely remotely through your phone. So if you're interested in learning more or arming your place like I have, use the link down below in the description or go to simplysafe.com/Graham to get one for yourself.

And now let's talk about what's been going on here and everything wrong with the unit. Where to begin? Well, we may as well start with the most recent and expensive thing first, and that would be the electrical. When we came behind the walls and started looking into adding recessed lighting everywhere, we noticed that the current electrical system was just extremely old.

It was all of that old knob-and-tube wiring that was extremely prevalent during early nineteen hundreds constructions like this one, and surprisingly it actually held up pretty decently over the last 100 years. But even though it worked, it was definitely deteriorating, and because that type of wiring has a higher risk of fire hazards, it was best just to go and replace it all now while everything is opened up, as well as a new electrical panel for the price of another ten thousand dollars.

Again, this is something that's all done by licensed electricians, so you get what you pay for. But that's another ten thousand dollars that I'm not getting back, and that makes no difference whatsoever to the ROI on this unit. It's not like a tenant is gonna pay more money for a unit with all new electrical wiring, but at the very least, it's gonna be one less thing I need to do in the future, and it's not going to be something I'll have to worry about for a very, very long time.

Next was that we had to replace the ceiling joists because the old ones were a hundred years old and sagging. Again, that's something that you don't really see until you take off the ceilings and then you see underneath what you're dealing with. But again, that comes to this territory, and one of the reasons why I always tell people to expect it's going to cost way more than you think it will, because it always does.

We also had to go and level out the floors because over time, things have just shifted around a bit, and we did that by laying board over top. But the bad news is that the current hardwood floors are gonna be difficult to salvage and keep everything level at the same time without spending a ridiculous amount of money. So with that, unfortunately, I think we're gonna be laying new floors over top of this.

But on the bright side, though, even though it's gonna cost more money, the new hardwood floors are gonna look really good in here. I'll likely go with a luxury vinyl plank, so that way it's extremely durable, scratch resistant, and will be stain resistant, and it'll be perfect for the next tenants who decide to move in here. I'm expecting that type of durability is gonna last a very long time, so I'm not gonna have to deal with this for a very long time.

I'm still relatively undecided about whether or not I should go and replace these old louver windows. But with all of the additional costs, I'm thinking I should just leave it as is for right now since replacing all of these is not gonna give me that much higher of an ROI. And in a way, they're kind of cool to keep intact, although unfortunately, they're kind of old. So, my fingers are crossed that the new tenant who moves in really appreciates these vintage windows.

Besides that though, everything is coming along really nicely. They just finished opening up the wall from the living room to the dining room, and you can see they put in the supports and beam up here. We've also just started installing new electrical wiring and recessed lighting. Plus, we put in the plumbing to the guest bathroom and over here to the laundry area.

The entire formation of the floor plan is really starting to take shape—like you could see where the kitchen is going to end and where the bathroom begins and where the bedroom begins, where the hallway leads to the master bedroom. Now in terms of the master bathroom, this thing has just been a nightmare to design. The entire bedroom from the very beginning has had such a weird layout.

Like, at first, to get access to this bedroom you had to either walk through another bathroom or another bedroom to get to it, which was too weird. So we had to completely remove the bathroom that was here, we had to add another bathroom somewhere else, and give this master bedroom its own bathroom to make it a proper two-bed, two-bath unit. But figuring out this floorplan design was awful.

Typically, I don't have too many issues with floorplan designs, but this thing was something else. At first, we debated having a walk-in closet on one side and the bathroom on the other. We debated having a design with the shower moved to the corner and then the toilet over here. We went through about five designs before eventually I had enough, and then we settled on this design that I'm showing you right here on the screen.

So the toilet is going to be going over here in this corner, then the shower will take up this entire space with glass on both sides here. Alternatively, I could do a shower and clawfoot tub, which might actually be kind of cool now that I'm thinking about it. So let me know your thoughts or if you'd prefer a modern shower—comment down below and let me know.

Then over here, we're gonna be having a two-sink vanity with a mirror above. Overall, I'm hoping this layout should provide enough space that if two people are in the bathroom at once, smashing the like button, it should still be a functional layout that doesn't look weird. Then that leaves space for the closet to go along this entire wall here, which at first I wasn't sure about, but now that you see it in person, it's really more than enough space for a unit of this size.

So overall, yeah, this is now gonna be costing me over a hundred and ten thousand dollars to fix up—with me redoing all the wiring—not including, by the way, anything else that goes wrong. But I have to say at the very least I see this is money well spent because not only is this going to be less that I'll have to do in the future, but it's also going to increase the value of the property as well.

I also fully acknowledge that yes, I could have gotten these costs down a little bit further if I managed the project myself and I did more shopping around. But at that point, I'm willing to pay a little bit more money to save myself a little bit more time to focus on other things that should end up making me more money than what I end up paying out.

Plus, from a tax perspective, everything that I spend could be depreciated against my rental income in the future, therefore saving me more money on taxes. For all of your real estate people out there who love saving money on taxes, here's how it works. One is by taking the total cost of the renovation and then dividing that by 27 and a half, and that means every year you could depreciate that amount against your income.

So that means for me in that situation, the first four thousand dollars of rental income is going to be completely tax-free. Or you have another option to do what's called cost segregation analysis. This is when you could accelerate the depreciation of certain items like flooring, countertops, and other things over a shorter amount of time. So instead of depreciating something like that over twenty-seven and a half years, you might be able to do it over five or seven years.

So in a way, even though I'm spending all of this money to try to fix it up and therefore get a higher rental rate when that's done, I'm still able to use these costs as a write-off to save on taxes at the same time. So at least that's a pretty good reason to invest in real estate—spend money fixing it up, make it look nicer, and that will offset some of the costs in the future in terms of what you pay in taxes against your income.

So as of now, that's where we are. I'm guessing we're still another two months away from finishing everything, which I'll admit is a little bit longer than I would have liked because every month this place sits empty is three thousand dollars more in lost rent. But when it comes to that, patience is always key, and I knew what I was getting myself into. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted as more work gets done, and of course, as I end up spending more money on this.

Plus, thank you again to Simply Safe for sponsoring this video and keeping a watchful eye on it for whenever I am away. So, what that’s it, you guys? Thank you so much for watching! I really appreciate it as always. If you guys enjoy videos like this, make sure to destroy the subscribe button notification bell. Feel free to add me on Instagram; I post pretty much daily, so if you want to be a part of it there, feel free to add me there.

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So if you want two free stocks, just use that link down below in the description. Enjoy them and let me know what free stocks you get! Thank you so much for watching, and until next time.