$75,000-85,000 Estimate, does this seem accurate?

Question

I am looking at flipping a property (4 bed, 2 bath, ~1,800 sq. ft) in NJ and the estimate I received seems high, so I was looking for some peer feedback.

I was looking to change the following:

Kitchen (new cabinets, counter-top, flooring)

2 bathrooms (new flooring, new sinks and cabinets, new fixtures)

4 bedrooms (new flooring)

paint entire interior (~1,800 sq. ft)

Flooring throughout entire house

Basement (new carpet, ceiling tiles)

GC came back with an estimate of $75,000 without HVAC and $85,000 with HVAC.

Whitney Hutten · Answer

@Chris LainoI would say that is high.  My of my rehabs are in KC (same size) and I barely crack $55K with a full rehab including foundation.  It will differ market to market AND time of year (this being the time of year most people start rehabbing), so definitely get other estimates.  Also, GC are going to take a mark-up.  Since this is mostly cosmetic, are you willing to coordinate your own subs and save probably 25-30%?

Johann Harshman · Answer

At first glance, this seems extremely high. My contractor just quoted me $22k to do flooring throughout, two bathrooms tiled and new shower installed, 7 new windows, paint and skim work, new kitchen countertops and cabinet repaint and a good deal of exterior work (siding, tree removal, re-paint)

I'm not replacing kitchen cabinets though so thats a big one, but not a $60k big one. My home is also 1300 sq feet, but 500 sq feet shouldn't affect the price THAT drastically.

Unless your replacing every floor in the house with custom italian marble, that price is absurd.

Mike Giallanza · Answer

Kitchen (new cabinets, counter-top, flooring) - you may get the best deal on labor going with the cabinet company. See if there's a Fabuwood cabinet dealer near you, and the company that sells their cabinets may have a great deal on the labor.

2 bathrooms (new flooring, new sinks and cabinets, new fixtures) - Best to get the plumber yourself, and then the tile guy.

4 bedrooms (new flooring) - best deals are going to come direct from the flooring companies in your area. You may need to buy the material from one place, and then find a flooring person for the install, to get the best deal. But some of the smaller local flooring places can have great labor rates, you just have to find them.

paint entire interior (~1,800 sq. ft) - find the painter directly for the best deal

Basement (new carpet, ceiling tiles) - don't need a GC for this either.

I agree with the others, this sounds pricey! You can find the labor people yourself and save a ton without a GC. But still line up an estimate from one more GC just to see if s/he can offer a great deal on everything. I've found though that I get the best deals going directly to the specialists, because most GC's are simply subbing out the specialty work anyways. You're in the business as a real estate agent, so you probably have a lot of contacts (or colleagues that can provide them) that can hook you up with the best plumber, painter, drywaller, tiler, etc.

Good luck!

Mark S. · Answer

@Chris Laino yea there are quite a few contractors/subs  out there who know that the  demand is so high they can bid ridiculous amounts and get enough of them to keep them busy. Example - I am having quite a bit of plumbing redone in a house I bought and my reqular  plumber just couldn’t fit it in. So I got a few bids from guys I hadn’t used before (always good to have a backup) and one was $7,500 the other $16,500. Both seemed well qualified and were to do the same work. The guy at $16k said I ‘wouldn’t hurt his feelings’ if I said no. Which I did of course. (And by the way, the lower priced guy brought in his whole team, knocked the job off in two days, and the inspector said everything looked great)

Brian Pulaski · Answer

Get 2-3 more GC bids for the same work. It's easy for us to read your basic list and say too high, but we aren't at the house to see the exact project.

Michael Noto · Answer

@Chris Laino I would trust your gut on this one, this estimate seems high for the scope of work that you outlined. For an estimate to come in at $75k on a 1800sq ft house when a roof, HVAC, and windows do not need to be done is ridiculous.

It is likely that the contractor just hail mary'd his bid to see if you would bite because he has other work lined up being that the busy season is here in the northeast.  I don't understand why contractors do that either. Just a waste of everyone's time and it gives the good contractors a bad name.

Bruno Nunes · Answer

@Chris Laino

Even if you included replacing the boiler for a new boiler and new water heater, painted the entire house interior it would still be too high compared to what I spend. I’ve done what your trying to do for much less. Do yourself a favor and subcontract each thing you need by getting multiple quotes for each thing you need done or find a new contractor because that one is looking to make a killing.

What town is this in?

Chris Laino · Answer

@Bruno Nunes yes this is a flip..the roof and siding do look good, I didn't have them include that in the estimate. Water heater is pretty new so that was excluded as well. We didn't discuss boiler so I would assume that wasn't in the estimate and the doors are in pretty good shape as well.

Bruno Nunes · Answer

@Chris Laino

It sounds like your only doing the cosmetics of the house other than total remodeling baths and kitchen. I don’t see you listing any windows, new water heater, furnace/boiler, roofing, siding, new doors nothing like this so if what you listed is really all it is than hell yea that’s high.

Is this a flip?