Posted by Corey (ND) on April 09, 2000 at 22:41:24:
Boy you must have some pretty hungry home inspectors in CA. Here in North Dakota they are getting $300-400! Competition I guess.
Estimating repairs - Posted by ChrisB
Posted by ChrisB on April 09, 2000 at 12:24:41:
How would you go about estimating repairs on a property? I am a new investor trying to do wholesale/flips with no rehabbing. I really don’t have much of a clue on how to estimate repairs. Having a contractor give a free estimate is the only way I can think of going about this. However, once contractors know I am only using them for their estimate and not their services they probably won’t do it a second time. Could anyone give me some advice or point me in the right direction? Is there any good books out there that can show me how? Thanks for helping the new guy out.
Chris Bilderback
Watch for new “Flipping Properties” course - Posted by William Bronchick
Posted by William Bronchick on April 09, 2000 at 21:51:52:
My new course “Your Step by Step Guide to Flipping Properties” will be out in a few weeks. There’s about 30 pages devoted to estimating costs, labor and, most importantly WHAT things to fix and what things not to.
One place to start: “Home Improvement 123”, which can be found at Home Depot. It gives you a basic idea of how the mechanical systems, etc of a house work and generally how many labor hours it should take.
Re: Estimating repairs - Posted by Phillip
Posted by Phillip on April 09, 2000 at 17:25:31:
Chris,
I suggest that you might want to take a look at the CD ESTIMATOR put out by Craftsman Book Company, 6058 Corte del Cedro//P.O. Box 6500//Carlsbad, California
92018 Phone: 619-438-7828. This software has over 2,500 pages of labor and materials cost from six costbooks. The heart of the software if the National Estimator, when it is running any of six costbooks are just a few mouse clicks away. The costbooks include, the construction estimator, repair and remodeling estimator, electrical, plumbing/HVAC, painting, and renovation and insurance repair estimator. There are some forty estimating and bidding forms included. It is a wonderful investment ($66.00). If I remember correctly, I purchased the software from Tiger Software located in Florida (?). It even has pictures to help you be sure that the figures provided are for the job you want to have done.
Give it a try and for the money you can’t go wrong. Good Luck!!~
Re: Estimating repairs - Posted by WilliamGA
Posted by WilliamGA on April 09, 2000 at 12:48:14:
Chris,
If you haven’t yet, go pick up a copy of Ron LeGrand’s “Fast Cash” book. While you are at the bookstore, get Kevin Meyer’s “Buy it, Fix it, Sell it” also. These can give you lots of tips on how to look at properties and estimate costs.
Every area is somewhat different, but this can give you a “ballpark” from which to operate.
Good Luck!
WilliamGA
CD Estimator - Posted by Robert
Posted by Robert on April 09, 2000 at 18:41:12:
Looks interesting:
http://www.craftsman-book.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/cbcstore/prodpages/cdb.htm?E+cbcstore
Re: Estimating repairs - Posted by Lib Cassin
Posted by Lib Cassin on April 09, 2000 at 18:07:33:
Hi
Great question and one I was struggling with too. In California we have home inspectors that will come out and nit pick the place for you and give you a written report for $150. With this program it would seem that you could then plug in the findings of the home inspector -
But I think if you explain to a contractor that you need a long term relationship (this is what I have done) and they may not get all the work all of the time, but they sure will get a good portion of it, he is happy to work with me