Rental Property Investor · Greater Chicago Area · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 0 votes
I am analyzing a potential flip opportunity in the Chicago-land area and I am wondering if anyone has previous experience in adding duct work and forced air units to an old house. The current boiler is pretty new (3-5 years) but all of the comps in the area have forced air so I am thinking that it is a must have in order to compete. I have a contractor that told me it will cost around $15k to add the forced air units (he is suggesting one for upstairs in the attic and one for downstairs in the basement) and all of the duct work. Has anyone experienced the cost on a job like this? This cost of adding (at that price) would definitely eat into the profits quite a bit.
Also, would it make sense to remove the boiler units from the rooms if the boiler is like new? Wondering if it would be easier to just leave the units in the rooms as a back-up. One thing to note is the area is a historic district with a lot of old homes and some do still have the boiler units in them although they have been updated with forced air.
@Armand Soto- 1st off the cost depends on the efficiency of the new units you'll be installing. Drop the efficiency and the costs will be less. Get estimates for both medium and high efficiency from multiple contractors. $15K actually doesn't sound bad but
When we purchase multifamilies for ourselves we always replace the boiler with forced air. This way the costs for heating and cooling becomes the tenant's responsibility, not ours, thus increasing our cash flow. My opinion- Flipping a multifamily with separated forced air cooling and heating is more attractive than a property with a boiler & you're price point should be higher than a property sold with a boiler.
@Armand Soto it’s hard to say without know all the details such as size of house, number of rooms, number and type of windows, efficiency rating and type and size of the units. Best thing is to get several quotes for the exact same specs to compare apples to apples.
In some houses I leave the boiler and radiators for backup unless you need the space or if your reconfiguring the floor plan and they need to come out.
If it’s a total gut I will remove the entire system. I would go with what’s popular in your area for comparable houses.
@Armand Soto I typically see around $4500-5,000 without the duct work. Once you add duct work, you end up paying more. This quote sounds reasonably in line with what I am seeing, but as others have said it probably makes sense to get more quotes. The reason prices are so high is that these trades people are so busy. The whole Chicago area has been booming and the trades are incredibly busy right now.
@Armand Soto- 1st off the cost depends on the efficiency of the new units you'll be installing. Drop the efficiency and the costs will be less. Get estimates for both medium and high efficiency from multiple contractors. $15K actually doesn't sound bad but
When we purchase multifamilies for ourselves we always replace the boiler with forced air. This way the costs for heating and cooling becomes the tenant's responsibility, not ours, thus increasing our cash flow. My opinion- Flipping a multifamily with separated forced air cooling and heating is more attractive than a property with a boiler & you're price point should be higher than a property sold with a boiler.