Wholesalers, what's your process for creating a renovation plan and estimating rehab costs for your projects?

I have a contractor give me an estimate of what needs repairing etc.  Then of course you decide what is necessary, nice-to-have and probably can do without.  Naturally, if you're doing a rehab for a flip you'll want to paint the entire inside and put in new carpeting.  I'd also check the appliances to determine if they need replacing. 

All of this depends on the profit potential etc. 

Originally posted by @Roland Paicely:

I have a contractor give me an estimate of what needs repairing etc.  Then of course you decide what is necessary, nice-to-have and probably can do without.  Naturally, if you're doing a rehab for a flip you'll want to paint the entire inside and put in new carpeting.  I'd also check the appliances to determine if they need replacing. 

All of this depends on the profit potential etc. 

Thanks Ronald, sage advice! So far the common denominator among the responses that I've received (posted in a few categories) is that having an outline of some sort to track what items needs to be fixed to bring the property up to standard is the first step. Next the investor needs to present their findings to a general contractor for estimates. Based on those estimates and other supporting information, the investor can then determine rehab costs and the ARV.

As someone who has wholesaled properties, have/do you use a standard form/checklist when inspecting a house?

@Shaun Caldwell  Our contractor who has done over 250 flips and also happens to be an engineer has a formula where he can walk through a property and have a rough estimate within 15 minutes. As a wholesaler your bid is strictly for estimation and need not be exact. I wouldn't mind sharing that sheet with you as well as how to properly use it. Your contractor would get worn out with you in a hurry if you constantly have him walking through properties that he's not getting paid to work on.  

Originally posted by @Ryan Dossey:

@Shaun Caldwell Our contractor who has done over 250 flips and also happens to be an engineer has a formula where he can walk through a property and have a rough estimate within 15 minutes. As a wholesaler your bid is strictly for estimation and need not be exact. I wouldn't mind sharing that sheet with you as well as how to properly use it. Your contractor would get worn out with you in a hurry if you constantly have him walking through properties that he's not getting paid to work on.  

Ryan, how fortune are you?!?!? To work with an investor-friendly contractor with so much experience is a competitive advantage in itself. To your point, the last thing that I want to do is waste time. To be able to use your proven system for evaluating rehab costs is invaluable. It'll save myself and potential contractors whom I work with time and help create more accurate rehab cost estimates which are vital to the types of deals that I am looking to structure and execute. By all means, please email me the form that you use in your business as well as any supporting information. I will send you my email address in a private message.

We get 2 fixed price repair quotes from our main contractors and use the higher one for our costing then give the job to whoever can do it sooner. They both stay busy and we often come in under quote!

We NEVER estimate costs we ALWAYS get fixed price quotes. No surprises then.

Originally posted by @Dean Letfus:

We get 2 fixed price repair quotes from our main contractors and use the higher one for our costing then give the job to whoever can do it sooner. They both stay busy and we often come in under quote!

We NEVER estimate costs we ALWAYS get fixed price quotes. No surprises then.

 Interesting take on pricing rehabs Dean. Most investors who I have talked to suggest getting estimates then adding on a buffer of 10% buffer to account for any unaccounted for issues that arise. By getting fixed quotes effectively you eliminate the risk of having fluctuating costs.

Would you say it’s more important to be very detailed and organized in your note taking when evaluating a property to present to a contractor for quotes or is having hands-on experience in rehabbing/construction more important?