All Forum Posts by: Shaun Caldwell

@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.  

Hello 

@Shaun Caldwell

welcome to the site.

Paul

Here's how we do it - For larger renovations that involve floor plan changes/additions. 

* Take as-is measurements of the house
* Draw as-proposed plans
* Now we can price things like framing, cladding, and mechanical installations.
* Design kitchen, bath, and trim
* List all fixtures, tile, etc.
* Now we can price the rest of the job

The Scope Of Work is determined based on what is needed to do to bring the house up the standard used to establish your ARV.

All items are broken down based on categories, and priced accordingly. 

So we outline all major systems (plumbing, electric, hvac), roofing, siding, windows, flooring, ect. Total up all the columns, don't forget trash removal, as well as a 10% buffer on whatever the total amount is or $5k (whichever is greater)

We rehab a fair number of our own projects and I also own a construction co so pricing is a bit easier as I know what all my vendors charge and what things should cost. When starting out this may not be as easy but J-Scott wrote a great book on pricing. Also if you call in a few contractors to give itemized bids you will start to get an idea of what things cost and at least have ballparks for items like a kitchen, bathroom, a roof. 

So first step is to create a very detailed scope of work, then itemize everything that needs to be done in that scope by trade or category, and tally it all up. 

This becomes easier the more practice you have at it. 

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. 

Hey @Shaun Caldwell welcome to BiggerPockets! It is great to have you. For more learning check out the Learn tab on top. You can check the Ultimate Beginner's Guide -- a great book for getting started with REI.

Shaun, the site is great but I would also suggest listening to the pod-casts. They're VERY informative and entertaining.  Also, "The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Real Estate Investing" is an excellent tool. Show 11 of the podcast is an outline of the Guide. Check it out!