HOW DO I ESTIMATE GENERAL REPAIRS?

You may want a handyman or contractor do a walk thru with you if you are not familiar with the needed items to complete the project to assist you on pricing. If you have a friend who knows what they are doing that would be better, you don't want to waste anyone's time, especially if the contractor or handyman will not be getting the contract to finish the job. If you use a friend to help you, you could give them some $$$ for their time if you get the deal!

Good luck
Kevin

Thanks for the advice Kevin!

http://craftsman-book.com/products/index.php?main_page=cbc_product_book_...

Hey Michelle,
Lowes has got a very helpful feature. They naturally display the price of the items, and they also give you an installed price. So take a note book and head to Lowes. While you're there, write down all the common repair items, so you don't have to go back every time.
These notes will help you estimate your repair cost pretty accurately. I learned that at the boots on the ground weekend.
Good luck with your deal.
Thomas

Thanks for your help Thomas! I am getting ready to actually attend a Boots on the Ground here in my area so I'm excited that I'll get to learn that information!

I have just been networking and contacting buyers, sellers, and wholesalers in the meantime, with the goal in mind of assigning a contract to get fast cash BEFORE the event and just keep the wheels in motion!

Michelle

THOUGHTS--->WORDS--->ACTIONS

SUCCESS STORY COMING SOON!!!

Hello,
Are you attending any auctions in Phoenix to get names of buyers?
Susan Boyd
accidentally sent private messages meant for Dean. He wrote about women in real estate in the Huffington Post.
Susan Boyd

The Phoenix market is very competitive right now and there are lots of people looking for properties. Just last Monday I went to the local AZREIA meeting and they had a networking "I have / I want" session. I got the names of 10 people looking for properties all in a half an hour. It's not like it was in 2009 when the market was flooded with REO's. It's easy to find people that want to buy, it's hard to get the property.

The last time I went down to the auction I was pretty amazed at the small amount of people there. Definitely experienced players and all of them with one ear on the phone with their buyer.

Sorry, in answering the last post this thread has gotten off the original subject of estimates. When I first started I just kept a spread sheet with lots of different costs on it and I shopped a lot at home depot. As you get better you'll be able to tell if a bathroom just needs a new toilet or it's a $3K complete re-do. In the beginning you'll have to spend a lot of time looking up information.

Estimating repairs to make offers can be long and tedious, and ultimately those estimates need to be very accurate; however, there is also need for quick estimating formulae, and knowing that all offers will include a backout clause "just in case" makes it possible to make a lot of offers and increase the likelihood of acceptance. There is a very good formula based on square footage, and degree of work. Basically you multiply the square footage of the property by the cost factor per square foot. If you have an agent who can determine whether the property needs minor, moderate, or major repair, you quickly calculate the rehab estimate.

Minor Repairs--Cosmetic, Paint and Carpet, cleanup--$5 to $10/sf
Moderate Repairs--Minor plus kitchen and bathrooms upgrades--$15 to $20/sf
Major Repairs--Moderate plus big stuff, roof, furnace/HVAC, foundation, plumbing/septic, etc.--$25,$30, or $35/sf

This estimating approach can speed up your evaluation, and generally falls fairly close to the actual repair costs that will be encountered with a property.

One additional point, if the property is being fixed up to be offered as a rental, most rehabbers will only spend about $10-12/sf, whereas if it is a resale, averages are more in the $25/sf range.

As a general contractor I use a simply estimating package called National Estimator. You can download it, plug in some national figures and then just plug in the sq ft or lin ft of any particular house to come up with an accurate estimate. Some numbers that can be used for rehabbing are:
Carpet replaced: 2-2.5 per sf.
Roofing replaced: 4 per sf of living space under the roof
Cabinets upper and lower with counter top: 300 per lin ft.
Sink and facuet replaced: 200 per unit
Tub or shower retiled: 1000 per unit
New tile flooring installed: 8 per sf.
New vinyl flooring installed: 4-4.5 per sf.
Painting interior: 2.5-3 per sf.
Painting exterior: 2-2.5 per sf.
Cleaning: .4-.5 per sf.
New front door installed: 500 per unit
New interior doors installed: 250 per unit
All you need to do is measure the sf or lin ft of these item and make your calculations. Be sure to add in a 15-20% profit and overhead figure if using a general contractor and include a contingency factory of approx. 10% of the cost for misc. items.
Jan

This is the formula that I have used many, many times and it is amazing how close I come to the final numbers!

Karen

All excellent advice above!! The quick estimates for us are extremely valuable !!
Michelle, also look ahead to the big picture and start building your TEAM! This is a perfect opportunity to start screening a contractor for your team while gaining valuable experience. Most contractors will give free estimates
Get 3-5 contractors to give you estimates on this one. Call them and explain you are an investor that is building an A player TEAM to work with you for multiple deals. You need to walk through a few estimates with them to see if we can build a long term business relationship. Keep stressing this will be multiple business for them if they work with you. When you schedule the walk through estimate with them , ask many questions such as how they measure for square footage and any or ALL questions you may want to learn. This is an estimate for repairs for you BUT ALSO a free education on learning how, what , how much things cost.
MULTIPLE things here are taking place that will propell your investing.
1. You are getting your estimate for your self and end buyer
2. You are getting a free education
3. You are getting sq ft costs for future projects u may not have to spend time on
4. Your are building your team
5. You are gaining knowledge
6. You are gaining CONFIDENCE
By getting 3-5 estimates with different contractors you are getting 3 different views, experiences and wisdom for free all the while learning and deciding who you would best work with considering what they share with you band how THEIR mindset is about working with you.
7. You are Gaining EXPERIENCE
8. You can now SPEAK contractor language .... For instance with your newfound knowledge and experience you might be willing to share how in your area contractors are charging $100-125 per sq for a roofing project that is a one layer tearoff with dump fee installing 25 yr IKO black color Shingles / material and labor )
Not to mention you can now get on Dg site to post about each and every experience with contractor on how it went and a step by step on what you learned. As you post and help others , you are learning the subject a second time ))!
Jay

If you have a property manager and they are good then they have probably taken an inspections course, as part of that course they will have a manual listing estimated repair or replacement costs for varying aspects of house renovation. i have a copy here but it needs to be pertinent to your area to include local labour costs. just ask your property manager to send you a copy.
steve

Rs means estimator book
Or online trial here: GO TO search :! Estimating rehab which will bring you to RS MEANS ONLINE TRIAL
I have used the RSMEANS book for estimating sq ft and linear ft costs when I was a general contractor for yrs!! This saves time and is specific to your area!! For instance it is all separated by state and sometimes region
nothing is more accurate than doing due dilligence though
Jay

yes i didn't realize there was an online trial for that. Unfortunately, i just tried it and it asked me for an activation code, must be a glitch.

There are a number of RS Means books that are available for different aspects of estimating costs, that are used by contractors. Having some of this information is very helpful if you intend to gradually work into doing rehab on properties, or want to be conversant with property inspectors, contractors, or rehab cash buyers. I'd be interested in other opinions on where to start if you want to pick up some of the RS Means Contractors Guides. My own personal recommendation would be the "Residential Repair and Remodeling Guide." You can purchase directly from RS Means, or through other resellers like Amazon. Some of these books can be rather pricey, but keep in mind that if you start using them regularly, they will pay for themselves on the first job in better estimating of costs. Little savings on more accurate purchasing of supplies add up quickly on a job, and can mean the difference between great profits and ho-hum profits on a rehab.