Please find a local flipper you trust and partner with them... somebody with established processes (and GC relationships) in place. I so wish I had done that.
I know you want to take action, I get it. I really do. But if I had one do-over in this life, that would be it.
How about not add central air? Save the $--is central air typical for this style of house and neighborhood? Are you going to make that much more on the house with central air in it? Is it going to add value equivalent to or greater than what you are paying for it and the massive hassle factor it is turning out to be? Plenty of people still use window units, we sold a 1950 3/2 Cape in five days for full asking price and the buyers made a big fuss about the landscaping and never even questioned the fact that it did not have central air (it also had no bathtub, only a walk in shower unit!) Stick to the numbers, you are not rehabbing this home for what YOU want in it, you are rehabbing it for the best ROI you can get!
Your window and door price looks good, consistent with my GC, I would recommend you get panel doors, they are either same price or slightly more than luan and look like a million bucks. It is those little details buyers will see that will make them want the home. Trickier to paint, but still worth $20 bucks more a door or so.
Your roof price is comparable to what I would pay in NJ.
Is the carport something you are adding or repairing? Is it necessary? Is it something you can leave to the buyers to add in the future? Do the other homes in the neighborhood have this feature?
Would recommend keeping both front doors and saving $3000 there. Unless they are really awful and weird looking. I sold a house with two front doors that was built in the 1850s, it was part of the original charm of the house. One opened into the foyer, one opened into the living room, so that one was just kept closed all the time. Do other homes in the neighborhood have this feature? Some people like old timey stuff.
You can lower those appliance costs by waiting for sales or buying floor models. Just picked up a floor model LG stainless steel dishwasher at Best Buy for $300. A washing machine and refrigerator I bought at a scratch and dent Kenmore outlet 20 years ago still work just fine, the fridge was dented on the top and I don't even know what was wrong with the washer. A little shopping will save you thousands.
Make sure your plumber prices PEX. These contractors will do anything you ask them to and will not recommend a cheaper way to do it b/c they are profiting. You tell them how you want it done. PEX is cheaper and better than PVC or copper and will be easy to install since you are gutting. Get several estimates and tell them you want all PEX installed.
Hi @Jim Adrian,
Yes it is a flat roof. And I've now had 2 HVAC guys say it can't go on the ground in the back due to the basement stairs (code says it can't block the stairs), so the only option is roof or fill in the basement stairwell, which would be quite a bit of concrete. As for maintenance, that'd be on the homeowner once we sell. I have read that roof mounted AC units have less maintenance requirements and are more efficient since they get to use gravity to feed the cold air (which likes to move down) through the ducts as opposed to basement/outside units that have to pump the cold air through the warm air.
They are right, you can't block the stairs for code reasons. You want about a 5' sq landing where the unit/duct would interfere. If this is a duplex and you are converting this to a single family. Wouldn't you want one central air & heating for the house? Without seeing the place its hard to follow / envision. If its a gut job then you an put the unit anywhere you want and modify the structure and rooms accordingly.
Side note: A silicone roof is extremely slippery when wet so please keep the unit at least 15' (osha issue) away from the edge unless you have a 42" high a parapet on the roof.
A couple thoughts:
1- Framing does seem high but if you have no exact plans its probably just a ball park number. You could save some here if you hire out any structural walls (exterior or interior load bearing) and do all the interior non-bearing walls yourself.
2- Drywall sucks....but you can save a TON doing it yourself. This is almost always something I try to do myself unless I don't have the time because it is time consuming if your new at it or doing it by yourself.
3- Painting is only timing consuming. Again unless you dont have time do this yourself.
4- Leave electric/plumbing/HVAC to the pros. This is something that can cause you massive trouble if you mess up. I dont touch electrical unless its little things like installing fixtures and outlets/switches. So you could do that if you want but you wont save a ton but you will save some. Another option is looking into mini-split systems or ductless systems. The main chunk of the price for HVAC is running the ductwork.
Those are the areas I always looks to cut costs. Will take some time but its usually cheaper.
TL;DR - Do as much work yourself as you can. Google/YouTube is your best money saver.
Thanks again everyone
Jennifer, the front door we have to change to a single or move the staircase. Right now the place you come up and there's an inset covered area where both doors go, one leads into the living room downstairs, the other directly onto the stairs to go up. So unless we want to spend 20k moving stairs, or leave it as is so someone has to go outside to get to the upstairs, we have to change it.
The carport/garage thing we've been reconsidering. It is popular right now, but might now be necessary.
As for not doing central air, ill have to ask my agent. I've personally never heard of a SFH in this area without it. And my hvac guy said mini splits would be more expensive. I'm still getting more bids on that.
Jim, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by reconfigure things. The outside a.c. compressor has no where to fit in the backyard due to the basement steps and can't go on the side of the house because of the width of the property. Unless we cut off the side walkway. That's a possibility.
Thanks for all the suggestions folks. I think I'll end up partnering with a more experienced guy and doing some of the work myself ultimately, but I'm determined to make this work.
Just eyeballing it a bunch of stuff are high. For example $8k to paint the interior of 2300 sqft is stupid high when you're completely gutting the home, especially since he'll probably be spraying. With my painter i'd be paying half that despite California labor costs.