Checklist for Rehab?

[Charlie Green]

I am looking for a checklist to go through a property and know exactly what the rehab will cost (within $1k).  Are there any resources available online or do contractors/investors have this?

[Randall Alan]

@Charlie Green

I'm sure a checklist is out there... but I would suggest that any functionally usable checklist isn't going accurately to serve the objective you have laid out... mainly because there isn't a checklist that can anticipate everything you are going to run into during a rehab.  Many rehab issues are hidden... it might be termite damage, or damage to the subfloor, or mold behind concealed panels,  etc that will not make itself known until you are long closed on the property and deep into the renovation.  

The other variable you are going to run into is the assumption that you can accurately price a renovation based on 'just the problem you see'.  It's one thing to find all the issues... it is another for you to be able to know what that is going to cost to fix it from a contractor that may not be walking the property with you when you are doing your inspection.  That variable alone could be huge.  As an example, my in-laws called a company to replace a tub with a walk-in shower.  The people they hired quoted $18,000 for a job that I could have gotten done for $6,000 through my network of vendors if I had been asked.  The way I see it, there are 'retail contractors' (wear the fancy shirts, drive the wrapped vans, advertise on TV, etc)... and there are more 'wholesale contractors' who maybe do their day job on their off time and charge a lot less and show up in their personal vehicle.  But the factor of 3 difference in the price above sort of shows you the issue you are going to run into.  

Beyond that, there are always change orders that come up where your contractor comes back to you and says, "We've got a problem, and it's going to cost $X,XXX to fix.  Permitting can open up a whole other can of worms where they insist you bring something up to 2025 code, and not the 1925 version it was built under.

It also depends on who is sourcing the materials, and what their objectives are.  You can buy crappy cabinets from the box store made of particle wood, or nicer plywood cabinets with soft close hinges, etc, or you can have custom cabinets made to your exact specification.  Those are three entirely different price points.  So you have to know going in what level you are rehabbing to, and which path you are going to take for any given issue - to which there are always multiple at different price points.  If you watch the rehab tv shows, their GCs are usually aiming at the high end of what they could expect, with the hope that it costs less than that once they get all the way into the job.  You could call those accurate quotes for the rehab service in question... but you could also call them "well padded' quotes to make sure the contractor isn't going to lose money on the job.

There are also some house systems that are difficult to judge.  Like a septic system and how well it is functioning.  Are you going to pay the $500 to pump the septic to see how well the drainfield is working? Probably not... but that is a $7,000 - $10,000 unknown variable you just factored into your checklist in the blink of an eye in the event you eventually have to replace it!  

Experience is the best teacher.  We can guesstimate a small bathroom to cost us $3,000, and a larger bathroom to cost of $6-7,000 with b-c grade consumer finishes and such... but my suggestion at the end of the day is to add 20% to your best guess rehab budget because very rarely does the price ever go down.

Can you see how it's relatively impossible to get within $1,000? And I guarantee you if you speak with a contractor that does, they already did the math and factored in the 20+ % to make sure they can meet your objective and deliver the service at the agreed upon price!

Hope it helps!

Randy