How much do you trust a contractor’s ballpark number before there’s a full scope?

[Ali Kalaei]

For investors and contractors, how much weight do you put on a quick contractor ballpark before there’s a real scope of work?

Example:

Investor sends photos + inspection notes.
Contractor says, “Probably $45k–$60k.”
But once they walk it and break it down, it could end up being $70k+ due to electrical, HVAC, foundation, or finish-level assumptions.

At what point does a ballpark become useful enough for underwriting? Do you use it just to decide whether the deal is worth pursuing, or do you wait for a full line-item scope before making a serious offer?

[Bruce Woodruff]

I would put ZERO weight on a Contractor's numbers, regardless of who he is (even me :-), until he has walked the property. He needs to see a) foundation, b) electric panel and general condition, c) plumbing and sewer, d) attic, e) roof, f) ground near house g) call City.....before making even a rough guess.

A GC can always throw you a number, but it may be off by $50k, even with a really experienced guy...can you handle that kind of oooops?

Still sometimes you need a number in order to make a quick offer, so just leave enough fudge room in your offer. Good idea to have a GC on standby if you're going to be making regular offers....