Real Estate Investing : Where the Heck is the Leak?

We finished renovating one of our houses about a month ago. I visited the house when we were wrapping up the punch list and having it cleaned. It was looking great! In the price range that we are in, most of the houses don’t have much of any upgrades and just have carpet and vinyl throughout. To help with marketability, we tiled the kitchen and baths, put up crown throughout, and added chair rail and picture frame molding in the living area. So needless to say, I was happy that the house came out looking as good as it did and that we were finished with another renovation. This renovation took a little over three months and any time I see a job go from start to finish, there is a feeling of satisfaction and relief.

I am driving around with our renovation manager two weeks ago today checking on our jobs, and we decided to walk back through the above property just to check on it. We drive up to the front, see that our signs are prominently displayed in the front yard, and we’re thinking everything is good to go. We walk through the property admiring the beautiful craftsmanship and give ourselves a few pats on back. Right before leaving the property, I decided to poke my head into the garage. Large puddle of standing water soaked sheet rock with mold starting to grow equals…WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

There’s nothing worse than thinking that you’re finally done with a job and having to go back in and do more work. But, what are you gonna do.

This did not look like a problem to ignore so I immediately called someone to come take a look at it. After surveying the scene, they assessed that it may be a leak in the roof. They didn’t sound too sure and suggested having the roof replaced. Not what I wanted to hear!

I wanted to get a second opinion so I sent another contractor to the property to check it out.  They said that the ridge vents needed to be replaced but that the puddle of water was not from a leak in the roof. It had been a week now and still no definitive answer in my mind as to what our problem was.

After I got a third contractor to the property,  we finally got to the root of the problem, and it was a leak in the refrigerator water line. Thank God we didn’t put a new roof on the house! And it took three contractors to figure it out.

When renovating houses, it is NEVER a bad idea to get a second or even third opinion. It saved us from spending an extra $3K on this one.

Category: Rehabbing