We all like to talk about the fun stuff with our rehab houses. We like to show the before and after pictures of our new kitchens with the shiny new cabinets and the stainless steel sinks and chrome faucets. The same goes for the other rooms. We like to brag on how beautiful and bright the lighting is in the living room and how much of a difference new fixtures can make in the bathroom. None of that will matter if it all goes haywire because you skimped on the plumber and electrician. Remember, the ‘profit’ in ‘flipping houses for profit’ will quickly disappear if you mismanage the rehab.

Always use a licensed electrician and always make sure the property is safe and secure. When we walk through a property, whether its bank repo homes or whether somebody lived in it and moved out, we want it to be secure. If there’s a light hanging by a thread, we will have to get it fixed up. You’ll need to check the service panel to see if it’s been overloaded with circuits. Can you add new breakers to the panel or is it maxed-out? Is it time to upgrade the service? Can you build on the electrical system that’s there or you have to replace it? I always defer the matter to my electrician because it is a safety issue.

We pay close attention to the lighting fixtures both inside and outside the home. We check for damages and we may install lights on the exterior to brighten up the driveway or yard at night. We may repair a damaged fixture, but far more often we don’t fool with that. We just jerk it and put in a new one.

Depending on the size of the bathroom and vanity mirror, sometimes we use decorative bulbs. We either use the light bar or side bars, depending on the room and the space. Men don't care about bulbs on vanity mirrors. Two of the bulbs could be blown and we wouldn’t care. But wives do notice this. So we have to be careful about it. We like to install what I call Hollywood lights. Those frosted globes, the big round ones that outline a mirror. Those tend to impress our people. Plus, hey, it makes them feel like a star. You can't go wrong with that.

One of the most important things your plumber will provide you with is the initial inspection for damages. You can walk through bank repossessed houses for sale and not know that you have a bunch of busted pipes running through the ceiling. When the plumber does that water test or pressure test, things like that show up. So you could get into more additional rehab costs on him jerking those pipes out and putting in new ones. Remember when you borrow money from private lenders, always borrow extra. That's why. You never know what can pop up.

Before you communicate any demolition work, you need to pressure check them and there are many reasons you may have trouble with plumbing in houses. In Ohio we still run into some that haven’t been winterized. You can get leaks all over the place and then you’re tearing into walls that were good. Now you’re place is torn up and now you got to fix it. Many homes have galvanized pipe which lime up. It will affect the pressure of the water coming out of them.

Older trees near the home may root down and into the drain lines and cause damages. We get that quite a bit. The roots will seek out water. The house has been sitting there empty, with nothing going on, but it has some water in those pipes and the limbs will find it. They get in and mess things up. Any of these issues can result in unpredictable water pressure, hidden leaks, weak spots or otherwise damaged pipe. It can give you a real mess if you don’t check it out early. Be sure to check your water heaters during the initial test on the pipes. You’re plumber needs to get through and do a good inspection. There’s a lot of damage that can take place. Your crew goes in and starts things up. They have to have water to work. All of the sudden leaks start showing up. You know you're better off getting everything tested out right from the front. If you have to jerk a water heater, get it done so you have hot water in the place.

When it comes to kitchen fixtures, we have a system. The kitchen faucet may be replaced in one of three ways. For a general rental and a less expensive home, we do a run-of-the-mill straight faucet. It is nice and functional, but plain. On another level we’re looking to sell the property outright. These homes get a gooseneck faucet. The pots and pans fits underneath the water better with this.

We put in new cabinets, new countertop, new double-bowl sink, stainless, and the gooseneck faucet that we’re talking about. Then the third level, a higher priced property, you use the gold-tipped gooseneck.

That's our system. We have the right people working on these projects. It is one of my systems. It is efficient and it works. All the cosmetic stuff is fun to talk about and makes for nice pictures, but you need to make sure that the basics of the house, especially electric and plumbing are working properly or all that later work will be a waste of your time and money.