Estimating repairs before first offer

[Charles W.]

I've been searching for my first property to put under contract. It seems like there are two major hurtles to making sure you buy a property right. Accurately estimating ARV and repairs. As someone new to all this, I'm having a lot of trouble getting a 'real' or even close to real number on repairs without having a contractor/inspector there to tell me what is wrong and how much it will cost to fix.

Since I need to have a good ballpark prior to making an offer, I'm feeling a bit lost. I feel like I'm in a chicken and egg situation. I have no inspection until the property is under contract, or contractors interested in looking at a property I don't yet own... but I can't make an offer since I don't have any idea what the rehab will cost.

I'm hoping some of you more experienced guys can point me in the right direction on this. How can I at least get in the right ballpark for rehab costs? Since this will be my first property, I'm looking for light rehab only to get my feet wet. I am only looking a builds post-lead paint, mostly townhouses. My goals are buy and hold rentals long term.

Thanks for all suggestions!

[Will Barnard]

Charles, this topic has been discussed in length in several different threads over the years, do a search and read some of them.

I always advise people who are new to learn themselves how to estimate repairs so they have a basic understanding and over time, you get better and better at it.
I also have uploaded a document here on BP (go to the resources tab at top and under the drop down menue is "fileplace". You will find a recently downloaded file called "Repair Costs Form BE". Download it, print it out, take it to Home Depot/Lowes and start pricing items out. Once you have your sheet filled in with prices from your local area, you can walk through a home and estimate costs pretty close yourself, then get your hard bid from your contractor once you have it under contract.

You can also pay a GC $50-$100 to give you a hard bid on a property. Doing so afew times will enable you to see what needs to be done and what it costs from those bids. For only a few hundred bucks, you can get some great experience that way too!

Best of luck to you.

Will Barnard
(Dont forget to comment or rate the form after you download it, feedback is appreciated by Biggerpockets.