Rehab costs

What I'm doing is asking a general contractor to come out to the property and give me an estimate. My contractor is giving me a free estimate. Really, I was just honest with the guy and told him that I was an investor and that I needed to know how much it would cost me to repair the place. He was fine with coming out and giving me an estimate.

Also what my mentor told me was. That when you go out to the house with that contractor have them show you everything that they are looking at and why. So that way you can start learning what to do on your own. Then when you get good enough and know what to look for you can go into a property and get a general idea what your estimates will be..

Hi Cahrley,
You look at your major items such as your furnace, your electrical panel, your roof, the foundation(support beams,any cracks), plumbing, subflooring for weak spots. Termite damages. These are all things that can be costly. If any visual concerns I would have for any major repairs on a home, I would have a proffesional in that area of concern give a quote on repairs. Once you rule out the major concerns. The rest becomes cosmectics and will be pretty easy to gage in cost from some of the major home improvement centers. They can give you some kind of idea what material and labor would cost. There is also the option of hiring a home inspector for a fee. Contined success........Lubertha

Beware aware of any new building code since Florida is Hurricane country. Roof pricing is going to dependent upon on size and if your roof has any various angles (weird shape roof) in it. Cabinets $300 and up (quality grade-high end). Windows $770 and up (argon gas double hung). A/C cooling/heating pricing will dependent upon whether if you're going gas or electric. Back up "whole house" generator expect to spend $10k.

You can find good deals on ceiling fans & lighting if you go to lighting gallery store vs home improvement stores. HD & Lowes your going to find better prices on paint vs Sherman Williams and toilet & sinks unless you know of any savage yards or warehouses for those things like doors and claw foot tugs if you want to keep in time period of dwelling. Otherwise you'll have to go the home box stores.

The best way to go is call around for contractors that give free quotes, and when you are looking at a property, take them with you or have them meet you there.

In most cases, you will want property with cosmetic rehab (carpet, paint, etc). In order to make offers fast, it's a good idea when looking at property to measure the item and take you list to a home improvement store. Verify the cost, ask the attendent what the labor would be. You will normally see the same items that are in need of repair. Also, remember, you will have a whole house inspection and if they find "hidden" rehab you will have the right to break the contract based on the inspection contengency.

Determining the price for Rehab Costs will be so important to the profit of any real estate investment deal. As you are getting started, it can also be one of the steps that could take up a lot of your time. I would recommend creating a “rehab notebook” that would contain detailed costs for projects and repairs that you will do on your properties. This will become a valuable asset as you grow and develop as an investor. Use this notebook to track costs as you do any repairs, and as these types of repairs come up again on future properties, the evaluation and cost estimation will become much more efficient.
To address the issue of pricing out and estimating costs, this can be a bit tricky and can “make or break” the profit in a buy-fix-and-sell project. If you are having a difficult time establishing costs for repairs or don’t have access to a handyman, many of the Home Depot / Lowes type of stores can be a valuable asset. You can go to the professional desk, and they can sit down with you and go over your projects with you and give you very accurate estimates to complete the needed repairs on your properties. They can also give you referrals to trusted contractors to do these projects for you if you need that kind of help. Keeping track of this in a notebook will prove to be very valuable as you get more and more experience and the notebook gets “thicker and thicker”.
Using the resources that you have in your community will help you a lot as you are getting started in your business. The key is becoming more and more efficient as you move from property to property. This is one small area that will make a big difference in your future investing income. Good Luck!