Tour a Luxe Los Angeles Flip Done on a Budget

When designer Rob Diaz bought this Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, home last September, he planned to build in the backyard to rent out space as an investment property. But the COVID-19 virus has gotten in the way of a lot of home planning in the past two years, and he ultimately decided to renovate the main house and put it on the market. We asked Rob for his advice on renovating and redesigning now, amid restrictions and a booming market, on a relatively limited budget compared to the multi-million dollar luxury renovations he usually works on.

If you’re interested in flipping a house yourself, you should be well aware of the cost of the project before you get into it. Rob says it used to be much more affordable to buy a home and do substantial renovations including completely changing the floor plan, but it’s harder to do that today. “You reap the rewards when you sell them, but you also need to pay a lot on the front end,” he says, adding that “your best return on investment is to buy the smallest, worst house in the best neighborhood and demo it and build a tasteful, larger home.”

Rob's team completely redid the kitchen, including new cabinets and countertops. Going with plain black hardware, from CB2, and black plumbing fixtures, from Signature Hardware, helped keep prices down. You can find black plumbing like this almost anywhere, at any budget, he says.

Rob ended up putting this house on the market instead of keeping it as an investment property because he was unable to get necessary permits due to COVID-19 virus-related city closures. If you’re trying to build or embark on renovation plans that require permits, Rob suggests doing some homework ahead of time to see what is and isn’t possible right now because of closures and staff shortages due to the coronavirus. “We literally could not get the permit for the back house because there’s a clearance that we need from the sanitation department, and they basically aren’t working,” he says. “I really think it depends on where you are in the country,” he adds. “If you go down to Texas, they’re handing out permits like nightclub fliers.”