Repair Estimate Rule of Thumb For Bay Area?

[David Wilhite]

Hello folks. I need your sage wisdom and advice. 

So the idea is to make wholesale offers on listed properties. The strategy relies on volume for a number of reasons. Being that as it is, it is not practical for me to visit every (any) property before submitting an offer. I can figure out the ARV but repair costs are the make or break wild card.

I am looking for a rule-of-thumb method of estimating house repairs from my couch.

This is not an exact science. What I think I am looking for is a respectable range on a cost-per-square-foot basis. With this number in hand I can remotely estimate , say, a 1000 SqFt home would maybe need $75k in repairs @$75/SqFt for example. In that example I wouldn't expect $75k to be the exact cost of repairs, just an acceptable ball park figure. Hopefully on the high side because when you underestimate repairs at first then find out later and have to negotiate the price downward it can get ugly. But if I calculate $75 in my offer and the bid estimate comes in at $65 then I have some margin (I think).

It is very expensive in the San Francisco Bay Area so I need some local experience or guidance for finding out this information. I need something quick, dirty, but respectable. (fill in your favorite punchline here)

What have you done or what would you do?

Thanks!