How I Spent My $36K Home Renovation Budget for the Highest Rents

Real Estate Rookie

Home renovations can substantially increase your equity and cash flow on a rental property, but when doing one, there are two key things you need to pay attention to: budgets and timelines. Today, rookie real estate investor Rene Hosman is back to teach you how to do both after just finishing a three-month, $36,000 rental renovation where she turned an outdated apartment into a cash-flowing condo!

Rene was able to rehab the entire unit (two bedrooms, one bathroom) with a budget of around $30,000, and although she may have gone slightly over, her returns look nothing less than phenomenal. How did she do everything—new floors, electrical, bathroom, AND furnishings—with such a reasonable budget? If you’re ready to renovate your home or rental property, take her tips.

Rene goes through every aspect of the project: the good (renting it out right after finishing) and the bad (a BIG flood in the master bedroom), plus everything in between. She’ll share what she chose to DIY, what was smarter to hire out, and how she paid for it all. We also get the final numbers of the renovation—what the property appraised for AND how much it’s renting for now!

In This Episode We Cover:

How to stay on budget and on timeline when doing your next home renovation

Unexpected costs that led to thousands of more dollars in renovation expenses

Whether you should buy the materials or let your workers buy them instead (cost-saving tip!)

Furnishing your rental property for cheap and where Rene finds low-cost, quality furniture

How to negotiate with your bank so you can get a LOWER interest rate when you refinance

How much cash flow Rene will make off of this small (but mighty) medium-term rental

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Ashley's BiggerPockets Profile

Tony's BiggerPokckets Profile

Join BiggerPockets for FREE

Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group

Real Estate Rookie YouTube

BiggerPockets Forums

$1,000,000/Year with 22 Rentals by Focusing on This Ultra-Profitable Niche w/Jesse Vasquez

Maximize Your Real Estate Investing with a Self-Directed IRA

Join BiggerPockets Momentum 2025 to Supercharge Your Investing This Year

Grab Your Copy of “The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs”

Find Investor-Friendly Lenders

How to Do Your FIRST House Flip in 2024: Budgets, Renovations, and Loans w/Rene Hosman

Connect with Rene

(00:00) Intro

(01:07) Property Renovation Progress

(03:35) How to Hit Your Renovation Timeline

(06:56) Staying On-Budget

(11:38) Unexpected Costs...

(19:29) Building Your Renovation Budget

(21:18) Paying for Materials and Rehab Expenses

(30:42) Furnishing the Property

(32:18) Refinancing and Rent Numbers

(40:12) Connect with Rene!

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-510

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