How to Make and Save Money with House Flipping Salvage
When you step inside your flip for the first time, take an inventory of what is left in the house and what you will be removing from the house. Are there any items left from the previous owners such as furniture, dishes, linens or draperies? Will you be removing old carpet, appliances or fixtures? Make a list of these items including measurements, colors and condition. Why? Its just junk, isn’t it? Maybe to you, but someone else may see it differently. You are about to become a salvager, as well as a house flipper.
Furniture is always a find. Wood is expensive, especially if it is REAL wood. If it is particleboard and has been damaged or wet, the best thing to do may be to toss it. But if it is real wood, whether it is damaged or not, take a good hard look at it. This item may be a treasure to someone who does woodworking or restores furniture. Even if the piece can’t be salvaged the wood might gain a new life as something else.
An appliance that does not work is not necessarily worthless. Have you ever priced an electronic switch for a dishwasher? The unit you are replacing may have a bad water pump, but there are other parts that probably still function. These parts have value.
OK, the carpet is dirty and ugly, but hey, the rule still holds true-we shall salvage. Someone with a bare floor may find that carpet a blessing. Write down the dimensions, then roll it and tie or tape it and label it with the dimensions. Set it out of the way, so you won’t have to keep moving it around. A garage or storage building is great-you don’t want it to get wet outside.
Fixtures such as toilets, sinks, tubs, showers and light fixtures can find new homes in which to dwell, if they are still functional. That avocado commode may make you turn green, but for someone who needs a new one and doesn’t have a spare $70.00, the color is probably not important.
If you can’t find your own use for the furniture, fixtures, appliances or carpet:
- advertise it in a local free advertisement paper as best offer,
- contact local woodworkers, appliance repairmen or junk dealers (depending on what you have to salvaged) and ask if they might be interested in it, or
- donate it.
Laugh if you want to, I’ve been laughed at before. In particular, I was teased by another flipper who couldn’t believe I would waste my time salvaging from the house I was flipping. “Just throw that junk away,” he said. Well, I had the last laugh. I sold all the carpet. I advertised it as old and in need of cleaning, but it was solid-no holes. It sold in a week (well before I finished the flip) and I was still getting calls a month later-plenty of people looking for treasure. I sold the old bathroom fixtures to a guy who was building a cabin in the mountains. I built a set of bookshelves out of some old bed slats and gave it to my daughter for her collection of mystery novels. I gave away the old appliances to an appliance repair guy, who came and picked them up. The few remaining items (old drapes and some dishes), I donated to a local charity.
I added a total of $165.00 to my income side on the house flip, because I did house flippers salvage on the old items. I saved money on hauling and dump fees, because I only had to dispose of the old carpet padding and minimal scraps and trash-house flipper smarts-saved $150.00. I did my part as a member of the community by making a tax-deductible donation to a local charity-a house flipper, a salvager and a humanitarian.
All humor aside. We are, in general, a throw away society. We often forget that there are other people out there, less fortunate than ourselves, who might benefit from what we throw away. Even if you don’t want to be bothered with selling or making deals with junkers, offer the old appliances to appliance repair shops to get them hauled away for free and do consider making charitable donations. Those few plates and bowls might do more good on a table somewhere than buried in the dump.
For more house flipper how to information, see the article Tips to Maximize Profits With The House Flip here at Associated Content.
