Analyzing Rehab Remotely | Social Distancing in COVID-19

[Michael Rivers]

We are in uncertain times and people are likely not looking to do fix/flips right now.  

That said, there are still motivated sellers out there. There may be more down the road who have properties that need rehab regardless of what type of investment strategy you implement.

Best case scenario is being able to walk through an entire property to gauge rehab costs so you can properly analyze the deal.  

I would think as investor's, even though we want those face-to-face, rapport-building meetings with our clients, it is best to prioritize the overall safety of the client and public in general by social distancing.

What options do (new) investors (like myself) have to estimate rehab costs?  Although, we want to make it easy for sellers, do we ask them to do more legwork in lieu of a walkthrough, like telling us up front if there are any major issues with the property like foundations and old roofs, uneven floors and rotten subfloors?  And that the more information they give us, the more accurate the offer will be?

Then do we ask them to send us dozens pictures of the interiors so we can give them an accurate cash offer?  Then for the true rookies, maybe send those photos to a contractor for them to estimate costs?

Then how do we protect ourselves and what does the due diligence process look like?

Lot's of newbie questions but I'd love to hear what people think.  Still educating myself as much as possible but I'd like to keep my head in the game instead of heading to the Winchester to have a pint and wait for all this to blow over. Thanks for reading.

-Mike