'Calibrating' home repairs/improvements costs

[Nikolas K.]

Hi All,

Fairly new to the game (but with a huge appetite for learning!). I have walked into a couple properties and two strong emotions come to me: i) just felt like there was no way I would live in those properties and ii) i had no idea how much it would cost to get it to a minimum level of 'inhabitable'.

My main question is: How can I quickly 'calibrate' myself to be able to reasonably estimate costs of home-improvement job(s)? 

Some info to narrow it down: 

• My initial idea is to watch Flipping shows and pay attention to the estimation segment
• Im beginning in the Los Angeles area looking for multi-family properties; live in one rent out the other(s)
• Not looking for luxury but also dont want to feel like im living in my grandma's place
• Maybe framing it from the dollar side would help (eg. $5k can do this, $10k can do that etc.)
• Priority list of what is important (in order, keeping it simple):
  • Kitchen 
    • countertop 
    • sink
    • cabinets
    • appliances
  • Bedroom
    • ample size (maybe moving a wall 
  • General
    
    • central air