Rehab costs for a 100-year-old house

[Brittany Regts]

My husband and I are seeking contractor bids to renovate our first buy-and-hold duplex, which was built in 1918 in Norfolk, VA. I know that renovation costs change from area to area and that each house, with it's unique challenges, is different. However, I was wondering if BP members could share average costs for renovating older houses so that we can judge if our bids are sound.

Also, what are your thoughts on using contractors who refuse to provide anything but a "total cost" estimate, as opposed to itemized list of job costs?

Thanks for the help!

[Brie Schmidt]

@Brittany Regts - It is impossible to estimate the costs without seeing the property.  I live in an area with 100+ year old properties and one big challenge is the property is grandfathered into the building code, because universal building code was established in the 1970's.  So the property can remain grandfathered in until you mess with it, then it has to be brought up to new code.  So make sure you check with your city.  

As far as the total cost, I would expect that to be normal until you hire the contractor.  They should be able to provide a general breakdown and ballpark cost but it probably takes 10+ hours to write up a detailed scope and why would they do that if you are just in the exploratory phase?