Estimating Rehab Costs

[Andrew Oliveri]

One of the things that I continue to struggle with is estimating rehab costs.
I often hear Brandon say on his webinars and on his IG account, is that we need to get really good at analyzing properties.

That it is important to analyze one deal every day so that we get good at running the numbers accurately...that way, when we do come across a good deal we will have the confidence to take action quickly and make an offer knowing that we have accurate numbers.

My problem is that  have not heard him or anyone else talk about how to do an accurate rehab estimate if we are not able to get inside the property.
I live in Los Angeles and when I drive for dollars and I find distressed properties that are in need of TLC, I don't have a way to determine if I am dealing with a $100,000 rehab or a $150,000, $200,000 rehab, etc...

I would greatly appreciate if someone could speak to this question because whenever I watch Brandon or another expect demonstrate how to use the BP calculator I never get a satisfactory answer about how they arrived at the rehab cost - they just seem to plug numbers.

I constantly see video of real estate investors finding a property online and then running the numbers so that they can determine an offering price to the potential seller - But never is there a clear explanation about how they determined their rehab estimate.

thanks for any help or insight you can offer.

Andrew O.