How to 'rough estimate' the rehab (e.g. $/sq.ft) ?

Question

Will meet with the contractor later this week, but wondering if there is a rule of thumb to guesstimate the rehab costs ?

Area: MD (Howard Co)

Details: 4/2/2 1,900 sq ft (above ground) and 400 finished basement SFH, built in 1985. Its a listed REO.

Needed: roof, new kitchen, all baths (2 full, 2 halfs), hardwood installed, HVAC system, driveway, water heater (tankless), interior doors, windows and window treatments, garage door openers, attic insulation etc - pretty much everything inside. Original owner was getting sick and let the property deteriorate)...

Ideally I would like to open the walls, too and dry-wall from scratch - there is the old house smell and most importantly I would like to make sure whats behind the walls looks kosher.

And I would also need to fill the in-ground pool cause its deteriorated to the point of no return.

Any ideas as to how quickly rough-estimate this rehab? I am thinking around 100k? Is that too low or too high?

J Scott · Answer

One thing to be careful of...  I did well over 100 rehabs and new construction projects in Atlanta (where Andrew is), and have also done several in Howard County, MD (where George is), and the costs are tremendously different.  In some cases, up to 50% more for the same renovation tasks.  So, be careful of using a spreadsheet that's filled in with prices from another location.

As for per-square-foot numbers, until you're tremendously comfortable estimating costs in a specific area with a specific set of contractors, I don't recommend trying to do it this way.  I've rehabbed and built new construction in Howard County, and I've had other investors tell me everything from, "I can't believe you built it for that little..." to "I can't believe you spent so much..."  So, even among experienced rehabbers, price-per-square-foot is a tough metric...

Andrew Cordle · Answer

@George P.

Hey sounds like a nice rehab.

We have done close to 300 or so Buy Fix Sale or New Construction houses.

For just a quick estimating tool to make sure we were not getting taken advantage of by the contractor.  We use a thing called Budget Cheat Sheet it is a simple 5 by 7 postcard.

If you want one let me know I am sure I can PM you can actual copy or something.