A question for rehabbers - Posted by Joe

import · October 27, 2004, 1:00pm

Posted by Joe on October 28, 2004 at 10:57:09:

Del,

Thanks for the info and offer and i may take you up on that offer!

Thanks again.

import · October 27, 2004, 1:00pm

A question for rehabbers - Posted by Joe

Posted by Joe on October 27, 2004 at 13:00:26:

I am new to the business and am in the process of evaluating my first deals. My question is this, is there a formula you use to estimate the cost of repairs for a rehab project? I am planning on using handymen where possible and contractors when necessary to handle the rehab and I am struggling with coming up with a ?cost of repairs? figure. I am talking about mostly jobs like kitchen and baths, carpets, roofs, windows and doors, ect. I am staying away from structural repairs and things like plumbing and electrical upgrades whenever possible.

I have heard things like 3 times the cost of materials but is that a safe bet?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

import · October 28, 2004, 11:54am

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Jay

Posted by Jay on October 28, 2004 at 11:54:27:

Sorry, I meant RS Means.

import · October 28, 2004, 11:46am

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Jay

Posted by Jay on October 28, 2004 at 11:46:39:

The M.S. Means Catalog will give you material and labor costs based on this year’s prices (2004). Most homebuilders/contractors will use this catalog to develop there estimate for all materials and labor costs invlolved in the construction process. The catalog lists all 16 divisions of the construction process.

import · October 27, 2004, 10:47pm

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by jasonrei

Posted by jasonrei on October 27, 2004 at 22:47:09:

I don’t use a formula. I kinda just learned thru experience what things cost. Wish I had a better answer.

import · October 27, 2004, 1:42pm

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by John-Fl

Posted by John-Fl on October 27, 2004 at 13:42:46:

Ron Legrands course covers this. I found his numbers to be on the low end and have started zeroing in on costs by making offers by guestimating my numbers and once accepted I bring in 4-5 contractors to give estimates and I see how far off I was. I have found that I’m usually a couple hundred bucks off. But as Ron says my repair costs are in increments of $5k so if I’m guestimating it’s 12K in repairs I’ll use 15K as my number.

Good luck.

import · October 28, 2004, 12:02pm

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by joe

Posted by joe on October 28, 2004 at 12:02:14:

Nevermind, i did a yahoo search and found it. Thanks again!

import · October 28, 2004, 11:58am

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Joe

Posted by Joe on October 28, 2004 at 11:58:39:

Thank you!

How can i find one of these catalogs?

import · October 28, 2004, 10:03am

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Tim (CT)

Posted by Tim (CT) on October 28, 2004 at 10:03:59:

I guesstimate my repair costs and I always put at least $1,000 in as Miscellaneous costs for every $10,000. Therefore, a $40,000 repair costs, I’ll add in $4,000 as Miscellaneous costs. These are costs I’m assuming I’ll incur AFTER I get contractors prices.

import · October 27, 2004, 2:53pm

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Joe

Posted by Joe on October 27, 2004 at 14:53:39:

Thanks for the information, but i guess my next question is how do you arrive at your “guestimate”?

What i am trying to find out is if for example a kitchen floor needs to be retiled, and the tiles are 1.00 per square foot, and the kitchen is 100 square feet i know my cost of materials will be roughly $100.00. But what’s the best way to estimate the labor costs?

import · October 27, 2004, 11:47pm

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Del-Ohio

Posted by Del-Ohio on October 27, 2004 at 23:47:03:

I dont have a good formula RE labor as a % of material costs. This varies greatly, for example tile you can buy for as cheap as $1.00 per sq ft but average install is $6.00 per sq ft. or labor = 6 x the price of material. But replacement windows I can buy for 125.000 each and have them installed for 50.00 labor in this case labor is less than half of the materials.

I have a mental list (from experience and study) what prices run, if I run into something new I call someone who knows.

The best things I have seen for pricing is Robyn Thompson and Dave Lindahl.

If you email me a list of what needs done to a property I will give you the prices I would use to estimate.

FYI, we rehab an average of two houses a month, so I do this a lot.

All the best to you.

Del-Ohio

import · October 27, 2004, 6:45pm

Re: A question for rehabbers - Posted by Gene

Posted by Gene on October 27, 2004 at 18:45:20:

simple…
Call flooring people that install tile and as how much it would cost to have them install 100sf of tile