Remodeling & Flipping Homes: Lessons from Oakerds, LLC

Alex Veit (00:00)
Just be very aware and cognizant ⁓ if are you covering all your bases? Like ⁓ if you feel, know, someone that’s a veteran doing this, lot of the steps that one must take to flip a house, you know, is like examining like what needs to be fixed for sure that I know needs to be fixed.

I think having that knowledge, no one is born with that. So for people starting off as just definitely double checking, okay, do we need a new roof? For sure. Do we not need it? Do we need it? Do we need new siding? we gonna need all new windows? Like knowing that sometimes can save you from very costly, you know, if you go into a flip,

And you think you have a scope of work in your mind, and then you come to find out that you need a brand new roof, or you need to completely redo your HVAC system or something like that, then you’re scrambling. So I think that would be my thing that would help folks make sure you’re fully ⁓ confident of your scope of work and that you have budgeted appropriately.

Erika (01:22)
Yeah, absolutely. And talking further about the remodeling that you do, Alex, do you have a project or anything that you’ve done recently that you’re really proud of?

Alex Veit (01:37)
yeah, the property I’m flipping in Lithonia. ⁓ I’ve had a couple of ⁓ issues, things that I did not budget for, but the house is, ⁓ I recently had a stager go in there to give me a price for staging, putting some furniture in there so we can list it. And she was like, wow, this house looks amazing. Like I went all out.

You know once once I started going over budget. I just like okay. Let’s just make this a very beautiful house You know and then you know one you know and one might say you don’t want to be the nicest house on the on the street, you know, but We kind of are at this point.

Erika (03:54)
everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pro Show. I’m your host, Erika, and today I’m excited to be joined by Alex V of Oakerds, LLC. He is revolutionizing the remodeling space. Alex, it’s great to have you on the show.

Alex Veit (04:13)
Thank you. Yeah, it’s a pleasure to be here. I’m excited.

Erika (04:16)
So let’s dive on in. Alex, for those who aren’t familiar with what you do or your story, give us the rundown. How did you get started at remodeling?

Alex Veit (04:26)
Yes, great question. Actually, was going to school to be a computer scientist. This was maybe about 10, 15 years ago. And I found myself working for a gentleman that was in the flooring business and kind of got that job by accident, really, through a friend of mine. They said they needed someone to tweak their web page and just post pictures and stuff like that.

found myself doing that and the more I was in the office hearing,

it was kind of like a store actually, they had a storefront and people would come in and they would look at samples and I would see the sales reps talking to them and then they would go out and measure their house and they would sell jobs and stuff like that and I was like, and this is very interesting. So at the time I was reading a lot about sales,

you know, and listening to ⁓ audiobooks ⁓ things, know, guys like, you know, ⁓ Jim Rohn and some of these old school kind of sales guys, ⁓ know, Zig Ziglar and a bunch of guys. And it was just kind of, it fell in my lap, really. I was at this place where I had, was a product to be sold, you know, carpet, hardwood, tile.

You luxury vinyl plank and there’s a service to be sold the installation and I just kind of I was going to college, you know, like I said to be a computer scientist just completely dropped out of college and started pursuing ⁓ this flooring business, right? So I learned just about everything I could from the owner of the company and ⁓ you know, it was with him for probably seven years just

kind of absorbed everything, know, I was kind of watching this guy like really closely. He was an elderly guy, lots of experience. at one point in time, it just, you know, it, I felt like I was running this individual’s business and I knew everything there I needed to know to move on to like, I think I can do this for myself.

I had relationships with the installers. I had the knowledge of the products and the prices of the products and services. I had very goodwill with the installers. Like I mentioned, they’re all pretty much 80 % of the installers are Brazilian and I’m half Brazilian. So that kind of helps with the affinity.

I just had to get figured out the marketing piece. how am I going to find people that want me to do work for them? Once I got that figured out, I pretty much split ways with this individual. It was a little bit of turmoil during that time because he was upset that I, he thought I was stealing his leads, which I told him, said, no, I’m paying for my leads, you know?

And, you know, we became we were friends after that. And then we kind of then we kind of lost contact. And that’s and then from there, you know, it’s one thing kind of leads to another, you know, from the flooring, it went to like, hey, let’s do painting. And then we started doing decks. And then next thing you know, we’re doing a siding and then a window job. And then, you know, pretty much every aspect of remodeling, you know, the countertops kitchen.

bathroom. So yeah, that’s, that’s kind of how I got in it. It was all by accident almost, you know, I, I’m not, you know, I, believe, I believe in, you know, in God and, and, you know, in, in such, but I think maybe that was, you know, divine intervention, because before I got into the remodeling business, I may have not had much direction, you know, so, ⁓ you know, I feel like, ⁓

It felt random the way I fell in it, but it definitely feels right right now. And that kind of opened up doors for me to invest into real estate, is really a very fun game, let’s just put it that way.

Erika (09:49)
⁓ Yeah, absolutely.

when it comes to remodeling, what area are you offering your services? And then when it comes to your investments, which markets are you in?

Alex Veit (10:36)
Yeah, I’m in a greater metro Atlanta area in surrounding areas to ⁓ For those people that know, know, so I service Atlanta and in North Atlanta North of Atlanta like You know like Roswell Sandy Springs Excuse me Marietta We’re in Smyrna go to coming We’ll do Lawrenceville We do go a little bit south also

⁓ We do a lot of a Brookhaven, Buckhead. ⁓ We do also, we’ve done some work in Riverdale that’s kind of going more south. We’ve done some Hampton jobs. we’re pretty much, you know, it’s, I don’t discriminate that much like the area as long as the job makes sense to me and that I can turn a profit. You know, it’s, you know, I’m willing to do a little driving, you know, I’ve been to

done job and just at the border of Tennessee, forget the name of the city, it was a repeat client, it was a very big job. you know, we made the drives, you know. ⁓ But predominantly kind of like the Atlanta market and just surrounding kind of suburbs.

Erika (11:56)
Cool. And then Alex, when it comes to remodeling from what you’ve seen working with different people in the industry, what do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about remodeling?

Alex Veit (12:10)
That’s a great question. ⁓ A lot of times ⁓ I offer people quotes to do whatever work they want done and then they find out, wow, I thought it was gonna be so much more. Sometimes it’s not as expensive as you think it is, especially for someone that ⁓ hasn’t done much renovations in their home.

⁓ They can be a scary proposition to, you know, say, do new kitchen or replace your floors or paint your entire exterior or update your roof or something like that. Now, that’s not to say it’s cheap. It’s not, you know, just about any, you know, trade in the home service industry is going to be expensive, but ⁓ it’s not as bad as one might think.

You

Erika (13:09)
And then Alex, I also want to talk about flipping a little bit, which I know that you’ve done. What has been the biggest lesson for you when it comes to flipping?

Alex Veit (13:20)
Right. ⁓ Like we said a little bit earlier, ⁓ I’ve engaged in business with ⁓ a person that was out of state. ⁓ I think the biggest lesson that I took from that was because there was three properties and there were three duds, let’s just go ahead and say. ⁓

vetting partners that you’re gonna work with, it can ⁓ lead you down a bad road. ⁓ So if you’re gonna pull the trigger on anything that has to do with flipping, make sure you’re either working with people that you trust and that you know where they live, ⁓

and they’re not gonna just kind of take money and disappear. Or you ⁓ just kind of take the reins and just assume control. And that’s, think, the better way for me is to just take full control of the process, as scary as it might be for someone starting. ⁓ And just because once you get in it,

A lot of the dragons that you feel like you have to fight are not necessarily there. They’re not as bad as you think until you actually do it. I hope that answered your question.

Erika (15:09)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And with you having the experience flipping and doing remodeling, it’s interesting because I’m sure you have a different perspective that other people might not have. So as a remodeler, what kind of advice would you give to someone who is flipping? And obviously they’re going to have a remodel coming up.

Alex Veit (15:30)
Right. Yes. ⁓ Definitely, ⁓ you know,

just be very aware and cognizant ⁓ if are you covering all your bases? Like ⁓ if you feel, know, someone that’s a veteran doing this, lot of the steps that one must take to flip a house, you know, is like examining like what needs to be fixed for sure that I know needs to be fixed.

I think having that knowledge, no one is born with that. So for people starting off as just definitely double checking, okay, do we need a new roof? For sure. Do we not need it? Do we need it? Do we need new siding? we gonna need all new windows? Like knowing that sometimes can save you from very costly, you know, if you go into a flip,

And you think you have a scope of work in your mind, and then you come to find out that you need a brand new roof, or you need to completely redo your HVAC system or something like that, then you’re scrambling. So I think that would be my thing that would help folks make sure you’re fully ⁓ confident of your scope of work and that you have budgeted appropriately.

Erika (17:40)
Yeah, absolutely. And talking further about the remodeling that you do, Alex, do you have a project or anything that you’ve done recently that you’re really proud of?

Alex Veit (17:55)
yeah, the property I’m flipping in Lithonia. ⁓ I’ve had a couple of ⁓ issues, things that I did not budget for, but the house is, ⁓ I recently had a stager go in there to give me a price for staging, putting some furniture in there so we can list it. And she was like, wow, this house looks amazing. Like I went all out.

You know once once I started going over budget. I just like okay. Let’s just make this a very beautiful house You know and then you know one you know and one might say you don’t want to be the nicest house on the on the street, you know, but We kind of are at this point.

So, you know ⁓ Yeah, that house looks amazing, you know

Erika (18:46)
So what kind of like touches did you do that really upgraded the space?

Alex Veit (18:53)
Oh yeah, well it definitely had a 1980s feel. I mean it was built in 79, so every sort of finish in the house was of that era. So you know, like for instance the fireplace, was like this stone fireplace. We completely got rid of that and did some huge white tile sort of fireplace. The kitchen was so…

not functional. Like it had a messed up island with a big range in the middle of it. ⁓ And the refrigerator was off to the side. It didn’t even look like it was in the kitchen. So we completely redid that, you know, and now it’s a functional kitchen now. It had these dividing walls separating ⁓ the rooms, the family room from the dining, from the kitchen, from the foyer.

And we got rid of all of that. It required like a 26 foot long ⁓ double ply ⁓ LBL, but we made it work. And now it’s like an open space. You walk in the floor here, you see the whole family room, dining room, kitchen, and then you have the hallway that goes to the three bedrooms and then

The garage that used to be the garage is now a big humongous master bedroom with a big bathroom. ⁓ Yeah, that’s those. And then we and I tried to stick to a theme. know, you’re asking what are the touches that you made? ⁓ The theme of house kind of black and white, you know, ⁓ so the interior, you know, the white cabinets with a white countertop and there’s like black trim, you know, in the master bathroom, same thing, kind of like white tile.

⁓ White walls, ⁓ but vanity is gray in the master because I wanted to make that separate from the other bathrooms. The other bathrooms have white vanities, so I wanted the master to just kind of be different than the other bathrooms. So it’s like got a gray vanity. ⁓ Same countertop as you know, I put the same countertop in all bathrooms in ⁓

⁓ and has black trim. I did a zero entry shower with no curb, you know, had a recess the floors with we did like, flat faced pebbles on the, shower floor with a frameless glass enclosure in a rain shower head with a handheld. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s all every bit of like luxurious, ⁓ feel that you can get, you know, a big, ⁓ you know, freestanding tub, you know, right next to the.

to the shower, to double sink vanity. ⁓ I’m proud of it. looks really nice. I hope I can sell it for as much as I can, ⁓ but it looks really nice. I think that the black and white sort of ⁓ vibe is a modern touch and I think people like that.

Erika (22:03)
Yeah, yeah, sounds really nice. I’m like, OK, where’s the listing? need to see this thing.

Alex Veit (22:08)
I know, I’ll send it over once it’s listed.

Erika (22:11)
So Alex, what would you say is next on the horizon? What are you looking to do with the Okards in the future?

Alex Veit (22:19)
⁓ I think I think we’re just gonna keep doing what’s working, you know Keep doing the SEO marketing, you know with the landing page ⁓ I have I have learned that the marketing for for flooring work is is the kind of best bang for my dollar As far as marketing to get my foot in the door once I’m in someone’s home

I can market my other services like, look, are you painting? We can paint. Looks like you need new countertops. We can help you. And then once I’m inside someone’s house, I can market all my other services. If they’re trying to sell, can just be like, hey, look, I’m a licensed agent. I can sell your home for you too. ⁓ So I’m just gonna keep doing what’s Keep on ⁓ cranking the marketing.

getting the leads through, selling jobs, accumulating money, buying real estate, ⁓ putting money. I do have life insurance just in case for my wife and kids. ⁓ That is the system right there. Generate capital, cash flow from the business, ⁓ put it towards real estate so I can either flip and get a chunk of money.

or buy something that generates cash flow and just keep building in a state in that fashion. So hopefully, by the I’m 60 and 70, my kids, we have something that can sustain my family even after I’m gone.

Erika (23:59)
Yeah, yeah, that’s great. Well, Alex, before we let you go, if someone wants to connect with you, maybe they need some remodeling. What’s the best way for them to reach you?

Alex Veit (24:10)
⁓ they can either call me directly on my phone number, which I, or should I give that right now? Yeah, you can call me at 678-571-0660. That’s my phone number. It’s good. It’s on my hip at all times. Or you can go to my website, ochards.com. You know, it’s a little, page there that, you know, kind of like you can send a form out, you know, in case you want to, ⁓ request a, ⁓ quote.

You can Google, know, Oakerds on Google Oakerds in our Google page has a lot of reviews. think we’re standing on 159 reviews, 4.9 stars. We’re really proud of that. We got over 700 pictures on Google. These are just pictures that either myself or my installers or clients posted, you know, ⁓ so that’s a

great place to just kind of see what the people are saying about us, you know, go to Better Business Bureau, you know, you can check us out there. ⁓ You can find us on Thumbtack. I do not like Yelp, so I haven’t really cultivated my Yelp presence very much, you know. ⁓ But if you Google Oakerds, O-A-K-E-R-D-S, ⁓

You’re gonna find me. ⁓ I make sure to have an online presence.

Erika (25:41)
Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much Alex for joining us, sharing your journey with us. It’s been really great.

Alex Veit (25:44)
You’re not.

Cool, yeah, thank you so much for the opportunity. I loved it, yeah, thank you so much.

Erika (25:54)
to our listeners. If you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the Real Estate Pro Show. We’ve got more conversations coming up with people like Alex who are building stellar businesses in the real estate world. We’ll see you on the next episode.

Alex Veit (26:10)
Thank you.