fliprent

Kitchen cabinets come in various shapes, sizes, colors and most importantly for this post…prices.  Too many choices are not always good when it comes to making a final decision.  House flipping on a small budget allows you to narrow down the choices quite a bit.  I prefer solid wood cabinets in my house flips and luckily there are many choices.  Hard woods such as oak, maple, cherry and ash tend to be a little more popular and therefore a little more expensive.  Also the availability of hard wood continues to decline which also adds to the price. 

Soft Wood Cabinets

One alternative to hard wood cabinets is soft wood cabinets.  Pine is a popular example of a soft wood that is increasing in popularity among house flippers.  They can be purchased as stock cabinets from manufacturers such as Home Depot, Loews etc.   The down side to soft wood is that they tend dent more easily than hard woods so take care during installation.

Renovating the Old Cabinets

One of the things I look for in a possible flip is the condition of the existing cabinets, and if they are solid wood.  Painting cabinets seems to have become popular again and it makes for a cheap way to give your cabinets a completely new look.  Typically, you will want to clean them and I also prefer to sand off the old paint or stain.  However, the sanding is not always necessary if you use the right paint.  In most cases oil based paint can be applied over the original stain.  It usually will seep into the wood to form a bond.  If the cabinet was originally painted, you can use the same type of paint on top of what was originally used.  Just take a sample to your local paint manufacturer and ask if it is latex or oil based.  Be careful with the colors you choose.  It’s usually safer to stick with a neutral color.  I personally think white woks well in flips.  Also be sure to paint the interior of the cabinets as well.  It looks a little weird opening a cabinet to see a totally different color. 

To see more flipping budget ideas, be sure to click on the budget category.