Most investors building a flip budget will cover the big stuff. Roof. Plumbing. Kitchen. Bath.

Then they get to closing — or worse, mid-project — and find out they forgot something. Something they've seen on every job. Something that's gotten significantly more expensive in the last year and a half.

Interior painting.

I ran through a live rehab budget with a coaching group this week on a distressed NH ranch. We built the scope carefully: roof, full plumbing replacement, kitchen, bathroom, flooring, landscaping, structural contingency. We were at $72,000.

Then someone asked where the painting was.

It wasn't there. And on a 1,000 square foot property, at current NH contractor rates, interior painting runs about $5 per square foot. That's $5,000. My revised budget landed at $88,000 to $90,000.

That $16,000–$18,000 gap is the difference between a deal that works and one that doesn't. And it came from one missed line item.

Why Painting Gets Missed

Painting feels like a finish item — something you think about after the structural work is done. And because it used to be cheap ($2–$3 per square foot a year or two ago), investors didn't sweat it. You'd add a few thousand at the end and move on.

That's not where we are. Labor costs have moved significantly. Painters are busy, they know it, and the pricing reflects it. You're at $5 per square foot now. On a 1,500 square foot flip, that's $7,500. On a 2,000 square foot property, you're looking at $10,000.

That's not a finish item you tack on. That's a core scope number you build your offer around.

The Other Line Item Most Budgets Miss: Landscaping

While I had the group on that deal, we also walked the street on Google Maps. And something stood out immediately.

The comps — the properties that sold for $385,000 to $400,000 — had cleared lots, manicured landscaping, and two-car garages. This property had heavy tree coverage and no garage.

Tree removal alone was probably $10,000. Landscaping to get competitive with the comps: another $2,500 to $5,000.

That's $12,500 to $15,000 in a category that showed up as $2,500 on the first draft.

Landscaping is not a soft-cost afterthought. It is one of your most reliable return-on-investment line items on a flip — and one of the most commonly underestimated.

The Right Way to Build a Rehab Budget

Two things I'd recommend.

Walk every deal on Google Street View before you finalize your scope. Look at the lot, the tree coverage, and what the comps look like from the street. What you see there will change your exterior and landscaping numbers almost every time.

And make sure your budget sheet has a painting line — with a dollar figure, not a placeholder. Current rates. Not what you paid two years ago.

The margin on a flip is already tight. The line items that quietly erode it are usually the ones that were either left off or underpriced from the start.

Reply to this email — I read every one. If you've run into missed line items on a recent project, I'd like to hear what got you.