All Forum Posts by: David Robertson
David Robertson has started 93 posts and replied 724 times.
Post: Rehab Costs Estimator

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
You don't necessarily need a software, but you need knowledge and experience to estimate rehab costs which unfortunately is something that is learned over time.
Here's the process I recommend for learning how to estimate rehab costs.
#1 Read 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'
First, you need to build a foundational knowledge of construction, inspecting properties and putting together a detailed SOW.
JScott's 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs' is a great resource for new rehabbers to learn how to Estimate Repair Costs on 25 common rehab repairs.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/the-complete-g...
#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material Pricing
Take a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects. This will help you get a better idea of what tile, hardwood, carpet, plumbing fixtures and light fixtures costs for your rehabs.
#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor Pricing / Hire a GC to Consult
Call local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.
For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.
Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.
You can also pay a General Contractor a consulting fee of a couple of hundred dollars (per house) to walkthrough a few properties with you and provide a detailed estimate of prices that you can use as your 'menu for future projects.
#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating Software
Once you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.
The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing. Or you can download my estimating templates I have in my Biggerpockets fileplace:
Detailed Estimating Spreadsheet
There are other Estimating Softwares available as well which can help you manage the Estimating process as well...
#5 Practice, Practice, Practice
Walkthrough potential rehab properties (or find properties virtually online) and practice creating detailed scopes of work, quantifying repairs and estimating rehab costs for the projects.
#6 Get Your First Rehab Project
You can practice all you want, but ultimately you will learn the most about estimating rehab costs by actually rehabbing a house. Getting your first rehab project will require you to create a SOW, talk to contractors, compare and review bid proposals, review budgets, & make countless trips to Home Depot.
You will inevitably make mistakes and underestimate things, but you will learn 90% of what you know by just doing your first rehab!
Post: House Flipping Spreadsheets??

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
Hi Miles,
I just uploaded my latest spreadsheet which has an analyzer to calculate the maximum purchase price and a repair estimator tool for estimating rehab costs:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/...
The estimator tool has a database of nearly 500 repair items and prices that you can use to help you get started and adjust to fit your specific market and materials you are using on your projects.
Post: First Time Home Estimate

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
Originally posted by @Ethan Wilson:
Hey guys, I'm looking at my buying my first SF home for a house-hack. It needs a good amount of work, and I don't have much experience with estimating rehab costs. Would it be best to find a general contractor who could come walk the property with me and give an estimate before I make an offer? Or what is some advice to avoid under/overestimating these costs? Thanks!
Yes, if you aren't comfortable estimating costs on your own then you need to team-up, partner, or hire a GC as a consultant that can help you estimate your first few projects.
Since you don't have a property under contract, and GC's are extremely busy right now you are probably going to have a hard time finding a GC that will give you an estimate for free, so be prepared to pay them a few hundred dollars for their services.
Be upfront with the General Contractor and tell them your situation that you are a new investor that is trying to learn how to estimate rehab costs and that you need a detailed "menu" of prices that you can use to help budget in the future.
You should give them a detailed list upfront of everything you would expect them to price so they can easily put together a SOW and estimate for the project.
Ultimately, you need to learn how to estimate rehab costs on your own so you don't have to rely on a GC to put together an estimate.
Here is the process I recommend to learn the basics so you can start to feel more comfortable estimating rehab costs and putting together budgets:
#1 Read 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'
First, you need to build a foundational knowledge of construction, inspecting properties and putting together a detailed SOW.
JScott's 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs' is a great resource for new rehabbers to learn how to Estimate Repair Costs on 25 common rehab repairs.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/the-complete-g...
#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material Pricing
Take a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects. This will help you get a better idea of what tile, hardwood, carpet, plumbing fixtures and light fixtures costs for your rehabs.
#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor Pricing / Hire a GC to Consult
Call local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.
For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.
Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.
You can also pay a General Contractor a consulting fee of a couple of hundred dollars (per house) to walkthrough a few properties with you and provide a detailed estimate of prices that you can use as your 'menu for future projects.
#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating Software
Once you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.
The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing. Or you can download my estimating templates I have in my Biggerpockets fileplace:
Detailed Estimating Spreadsheet
There are other Estimating Softwares available as well which can help you manage the Estimating process as well...
#5 Practice, Practice, Practice
Walkthrough potential rehab properties (or find properties virtually online) and practice creating detailed scopes of work, quantifying repairs and estimating rehab costs for the projects.
#6 Get Your First Rehab Project
You can practice all you want, but ultimately you will learn the most about estimating rehab costs by actually rehabbing a house. Getting your first rehab project will require you to create a SOW, talk to contractors, compare and review bid proposals, review budgets, & make countless trips to Home Depot.
You will inevitably make mistakes and underestimate things, but you will learn 90% of what you know by just doing your first rehab!
Post: Screen record software - document procedures

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
I'm not sure what Brandon uses, but I use Snagit (by techsmith) which allows you to quickly take screenshots or screen recordings of your computer. Might be worth looking into.
Post: Trying to Analyze My First Deal. Need Help Estimating Rehab Cost!

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
Hi Brent,
This is a common problem and question for new investors that don't have construction experience. Learning to estimate rehab costs is a process that takes time and experience.
Here is the process I recommend to learn the basics so you can start to feel more comfortable estimating rehab costs and putting together budgets:
#1 Read 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'
First, you need to build a foundational knowledge of construction, inspecting properties and putting together a detailed SOW.
JScott's 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs' is a great resource for new rehabbers to learn how to Estimate Repair Costs on 25 common rehab repairs.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/the-complete-g...
#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material Pricing
Take a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects. This will help you get a better idea of what tile, hardwood, carpet, plumbing fixtures and light fixtures costs for your rehabs.
#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor Pricing / Hire a GC to Consult
Call local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.
For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.
Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.
You can also pay a General Contractor a consulting fee of a couple of hundred dollars (per house) to walkthrough a few properties with you and provide a detailed estimate of prices that you can use as your 'menu for future projects.
#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating Software
Once you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.
The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing. Or you can download my estimating templates I have in my Biggerpockets fileplace:
Detailed Estimating Spreadsheet
There are other Estimating Softwares available as well which can help you manage the Estimating process as well...
#5 Practice, Practice, Practice
Walkthrough potential rehab properties (or find properties virtually online) and practice creating detailed scopes of work, quantifying repairs and estimating rehab costs for the projects.
#6 Get Your First Rehab Project
You can practice all you want, but ultimately you will learn the most about estimating rehab costs by actually rehabbing a house. Getting your first rehab project will require you to create a SOW, talk to contractors, compare and review bid proposals, review budgets, & make countless trips to Home Depot.
You will inevitably make mistakes and underestimate things, but you will learn 90% of what you know by just doing your first rehab!
If you aren't comfortable estimating costs on your own or aren't willing to put in the work to learn how to estimate rehab costs then you need to team-up, partner, or hire a GC as a consultant that can help you estimate your first few projects.
Post: Rehab Timeline or Schedule

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
It sounds like you are looking for a gantt charting tool that you can use to plan out your schedules.
"Autoscheduling" is the feature you are referring to that automatically shift dependent tasks on your timeline if a predecessor task gets delayed.
Post: Estimating Repair Costs

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
Hi Gage,
This is a common problem and question for new investors that don't have construction experience. Learning to estimate rehab costs is a process that takes time and experience.
Here is the process I recommend to learn the basics so you can start to feel more comfortable estimating rehab costs and putting together budgets:
#1 Read 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'
First, you need to build a foundational knowledge of construction, inspecting properties and putting together a detailed SOW.
JScott's 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs' is a great resource for new rehabbers to learn how to Estimate Repair Costs on 25 common rehab repairs.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/the-complete-g...
#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material Pricing
Take a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects. This will help you get a better idea of what tile, hardwood, carpet, plumbing fixtures and light fixtures costs for your rehabs.
#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor Pricing / Hire a GC to Consult
Call local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.
For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.
Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.
You can also pay a General Contractor a consulting fee of a couple of hundred dollars (per house) to walkthrough a few properties with you and provide a detailed estimate of prices that you can use as your 'menu for future projects.
#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating Software
Once you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.
The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing. Or you can download my estimating templates I have in my Biggerpockets fileplace:
Detailed Estimating Spreadsheet
There are other Estimating Softwares available as well which can help you manage the Estimating process as well...
#5 Practice, Practice, Practice
Walkthrough potential rehab properties (or find properties virtually online) and practice creating detailed scopes of work, quantifying repairs and estimating rehab costs for the projects.
#6 Get Your First Rehab Project
You can practice all you want, but ultimately you will learn the most about estimating rehab costs by actually rehabbing a house. Getting your first rehab project will require you to create a SOW, talk to contractors, compare and review bid proposals, review budgets, & make countless trips to Home Depot.
You will inevitably make mistakes and underestimate things, but you will learn 90% of what you know by just doing your first rehab!
If you aren't comfortable estimating costs on your own or aren't willing to put in the work to learn how to estimate rehab costs then you need to team-up, partner, or hire a GC as a consultant that can help you estimate your first few projects.
Post: Looking for help with a flipping spreadsheet

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
Hi Brandon,
I have a spreadsheet for analyzing flips and estimating rehab costs uploaded to my fileplace here on BP, see link below:
Post: Newbie Question on Estimating Rehab Costs

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758
Hi Dan,
Real estate is fast-paced game and you need to be able to submit your offers quickly and confidently without waiting around for an inspector or a contractor to walkthrough the property and give you an estimate.
Contractors are extremely busy right now, and it often takes several days (or even up to a week) to get an estimate back.
You obviously can't wait a week in order to make an offer on a property, so you really need to be able to put together an estimate yourself without a contractor so you can submit an offer and get the property under contract before your competition.
Unfortunately, if you don't have any experience with construction costs it can be nearly impossible to confidently put together an estimate, so here is the process I recommend for learning the process of estimating rehab costs:
#1 Read 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'
First, you need to build a foundational knowledge of construction, inspecting properties and putting together a detailed SOW.
JScott's 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs' is a great resource for new rehabbers to learn how to Estimate Repair Costs on 25 common rehab repairs.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/the-complete-g...
#2 Explore Lowes and Home Depot to Learn About Material Pricing
Take a tour through Lowes and Home Depot (or their websites) and look at finishes materials and fixtures that you will consider using in your rehab projects. This will help you get a better idea of what tile, hardwood, carpet, plumbing fixtures and light fixtures costs for your rehabs.
#3 Contact Local Contractors for Labor Pricing / Hire a GC to Consult
Call local Subcontractors and get budget pricing for common repairs on your typical rehab project.
For example, call a roofer and ask what their average cost per Square of Architectural Asphalt Shingle Roofing would be on a 1,500 sf house, with a 6/12 pitch.
Note: Some contractors will be reluctant to share pricing without seeing the property, but tell them you are just looking for a rough budget number you can use on future projects.
You can also pay a General Contractor a consulting fee of a couple of hundred dollars (per house) to walkthrough a few properties with you and provide a detailed estimate of prices that you can use as your 'menu for future projects.
#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating Software
Once you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.
The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing. Or you can download my estimating templates I have in my Biggerpockets fileplace:
Detailed Estimating Spreadsheet
There are other Estimating Softwares available as well which can help you manage the Estimating process as well...
#5 Practice, Practice, Practice
Walkthrough potential rehab properties (or find properties virtually online) and practice creating detailed scopes of work, quantifying repairs and estimating rehab costs for the projects.
#6 Get Your First Rehab Project
You can practice all you want, but ultimately you will learn the most about estimating rehab costs by actually rehabbing a house. Getting your first rehab project will require you to create a SOW, talk to contractors, compare and review bid proposals, review budgets, & make countless trips to Home Depot.
You will inevitably make mistakes and underestimate things, but you will learn 90% of what you know by just doing your first rehab!
If you aren't comfortable estimating costs on your own or aren't willing to put in the work to learn how to estimate rehab costs then you need to team-up, partner, or hire a GC as a consultant that can help you estimate your first few projects.
Post: You Asked For It! Announcing BPCON 2021 - New Orleans!!!

- Flipper/Rehabber
- Kansas City, MO
- Posts 743
- Votes 758