REHABBERS????? I have a question... - Posted by Carey_PA

Real Estate Investing
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Posted by JT - IN on July 02, 2001 at 24:24:21:

My last rehab that I did was on an 850 sq ft home, that cost me $ 18K, and there were things that I didn’t do to it.

Now go back and re-read what this place needs; complete kitchen w/ appliances, 2 complete baths, ceilings throughout the house, basement steps.
A "Clean-out, full of junk; that alone could cost 2 grand!
In other words, it needs to be totally gutted! And then put a new house inside of it. Paint and carpet alone, on a 1769 sf house, could cost 6 to 7 grand, even with your $ 12 hr guys. (I just did a condo, interior only, paint & carpet, on 2000 sf, that cost me $ 7670, with $ 16 hr labor, but I don’t really call that a rehab, just Paint & Carpet).

When houses are in this delapidated state of disrepair, generally the mechanicals are shot. Try estimating a new HVAC, water heater, who knows what else. Needless to say, I think you are way off on this one. But here again, we are talking about such wide range of speculation, because neither you or i have seen this place, and know not what it needs, other than what is posted here.

Just the way that I view things…

JT - IN

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REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by Carey_PA

Posted by Carey_PA on July 01, 2001 at 22:52:12:

Hello all,

I have a real quick question. Now I know you’re going to say that the answer varies, but I’m going to give you as much info as I can…but I was wondering what it would cost to TOTALLY GUT AND REHAB A HOME???

If you go the cheap route?
If you go the medium route?
If you go the no holds barred, this is the best looking house in the world route?

I was in a beautiful home today (well it WILL be beautiful one day). Anyway, fmv is $120k and it’s listed for $59.9k

It is a mess. It needs a new kitchen, including cabinets, stove, floors, paint, ceiling. It needs 2 new bathrooms, including, tub, shower, toilet, sink, paint, flooring, ceiling. One set of stairs that leads to the basement is cut in half!! So, it needs new stairs.

THere are 5 bedrooms, all of which need new carpeting and paint and new ceilings. The place is 1769 sq. ft with 5 bedrooms and all the rooms need carpeting. OH and the place as to be cleaned, it is filled with junk!

What do you think?? Between 30k-50k? I’m just looking for a ballpark figure, my contractor is on vacation this week but I’d still like to make an offer to test the motivation level of the bank!

Thanks and have a good one!

CAREY

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Re: REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by Jay _TN

Posted by Jay _TN on July 03, 2001 at 09:57:16:

Carey, I wish I could find deals like you’ve got. I’m a full-time investor (rental properties), and I spend a portion of my time rehabbing properties before renting. Now, since my labor is sweat equity, I only have material costs. For one home I did last summer, I spent a few pennies over $4000 (materials only). 1100 SF, new carpet, ceramic tile, paint, vinyl siding, and major cleanup. If I were doing the same job for hire, my price would be around $12000.

In comparison to others on this forum, my path is somewhat unconventional. I buy homes at a discount, rehab, and then rent. I do all the work in-house, which minimizes my costs greatly, and gives me instant equity. So far, it’s worked marvelously. I’m not a salesman, so L/O and flipping just isn’t my cup of tea.

Good luck,
jay

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Here’s some ballpark numbers - Posted by Rolfe Kurtyka

Posted by Rolfe Kurtyka on July 02, 2001 at 17:58:47:

Carey;

JT-IN and Ron(MD) have renovated many a house. Since this is what they do, they do it well. Before they became proficient rehabbers, their first few jobs probably cost them more than they would have liked. If you are starting out, your costs will most likely be higher.

Here are some really undefined, ballpark numbers for a major renovation of a sfh. Of course, it all depends upon existing conditions.

Electrical, plumbing, HVAC: $3,000 to $4,000 each.
Siding: $7,000 - $10,000
Roof (tear-off and redeck): $5,000 to $9,000
Appliances: $1,500
Windows: $250 each
Exterior doors: $350 each

Good luck: Rolfe

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Re: REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by Anne_ND

Posted by Anne_ND on July 02, 2001 at 08:25:47:

Hi Carey,

No matter what it will cost you to rehab this beauty, my opinion is that buying it for $59K is too much. Even if you break even, your risk in taking this on, and the time that you will put in to it are also worth something.

Rehab costs will vary around the country, get with some local handymen & contractors to give you good estimates (get them from more than one person- don’t pay contractor prices to clean out trash!), and then make a very low offer. If the house is full of trash, make a big point of this. That’s the easiest and cheapest thing to fix, by the way.

What is your plan for this property- rent? sell? The answer to that will also affect how much the rehab costs.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Anne

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Rule of thumb - Posted by GL

Posted by GL on July 02, 2001 at 07:46:39:

The rule of thumb is half the cost of new. In other words whatever it costs you to build the same house from scratch, you should be able to renovate completely for half that.

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Re: REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by Ron (MD)

Posted by Ron (MD) on July 02, 2001 at 05:18:05:

Carey,

I normally spend around $20k to completely rehab a 1200 sq ft row home. That includes completely renovating a 3/1, including roof, windows, furnace/cac, kitchen, bath, light fixtures, etc.

Yours is probably a detached home and the cost could go up quickly for things like exterior paint or siding, many more windows, re-wiring, more expensive roof, etc. My row homes are brick and need very little exterior work. They typically have only 8-10 windows.

Hope that helps.

Ron Guy

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Re: REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by JD

Posted by JD on July 01, 2001 at 23:34:21:

If you have a contractor do it:
moderately cheap = 20k
medium = 25k
high end = don’t know
windows, doors, roof, electrical extra.

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Thanks all and yes you’re right, Ron - Posted by Carey_PA

Posted by Carey_PA on July 02, 2001 at 08:20:24:

it is a detached single and it needs all new windows and some outside work and as someone said below it most likely needs a new heater, etc…Ok, i’m not going to say most likely, it DEFINITELY NEEDS those things :slight_smile:

Thanks again,

CAREY

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Re: REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by JT - IN

Posted by JT - IN on July 01, 2001 at 23:40:37:

JD:

Wanna do my next rehab? Your prices are way too cheap for a 1700+ sq ft house, that needs major work; everything!

As for what it will really cost, that is way too general of a question, to be able to render an educated guess. Kind of like asking, what does a new car cost? Other than answering, Way too much; there are 100 answers to the question.

Just the way that I views things…and I have done plenty of rehabs, and know more about them than I want to know.

JT - IN

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Re: REHABBERS??? I have a question… - Posted by JD

Posted by JD on July 01, 2001 at 23:58:52:

I based my estimate just upon what he said it needed. There are probably items he missed. 1700 sq ft isnt that big. If it were me, I would hire $12/hour semi handy men and do the work for 70% of what I estimated.