Cost of Rehab Philadelphia

[Marc Possoff]

Hi have a 2 bedroom house in Grays Ferry section. Want to completely gut the house with medium grade finishings such as Allure flooring, fiberglass shower and medium grade kitchen. I actually have the 2nd floor completely gutted; both bed rooms and bathroom. The flooring is completely level and already has plywood layed. The rest of the house which would be the 1st floor is semi gutted. My cousin is a licensed contractor and he did the 2nd floor gut and partially the 1st floor but ran into major health issues with a family member.

Any idea what the cost will be to continue this rehab? 

Thanks!

[Ryan D.]

What is the sqft of the property and are you doing any work yourself?

[Marc Possoff]

Hi Ryan thanks! The property is 850 sq ft. I’m not doing the work myself want to hire a contractor to finish. 

[Ethan Giller]

For the scope of work you described, you're most likely looking at anywhere from $35- $100/sq ft depending on a large number of factors. The low end price being if you do work yourself or manage the work yourself using cheap labor and buy material on sale, and the high end being if you hire out the entire job to an experienced and licensed GC charging retail rates. And somewhere in the middle if you can find a contractor who is used to working with investors. 

Reliable and affordable contractors in Philadelphia are very hard to find right now, so be prepared to pay more than you expect and have it take longer than you expect. 

[Marc Possoff]

Originally posted by @Ethan Giller:

For the scope of work you described, you're most likely looking at anywhere from $35- $100/sq ft depending on a large number of factors. The low end price being if you do work yourself or manage the work yourself using cheap labor and buy material on sale, and the high end being if you hire out the entire job to an experienced and licensed GC charging retail rates. And somewhere in the middle if you can find a contractor who is used to working with investors. 

Reliable and affordable contractors in Philadelphia are very hard to find right now, so be prepared to pay more than you expect and have it take longer than you expect. 

Thanks Ethan! I don’t want totally high end like hardwood flooring as an example. Not sure if it brings the price of the house up that much to justify high end. There’s plank flooring that I’ve looked at that looks pretty good and seems durable and less maintenance. 

I was under the impression that I can hire someone that has a crew that also is involved doing the work not the heavy work but would be on the job? 

I’m wondering if I can get an above building grade rehab for $50k which would be about $60 sq ft. Thanks!

[Diane Manders]

Do you need anything done to the exterior or just need the interior rehabbed? 

[Marc Possoff]

Originally posted by @Diane Manders:

Do you need anything done to the exterior or just need the interior rehabbed? 

Diane just the interior rehabbed.  

[Ryan D.]

Originally posted by @Marc Possoff:

Hi Ryan thanks! The property is 850 sq ft. I’m not doing the work myself want to hire a contractor to finish. 

You can definitely get the job done for 50k total but it'll be difficult to do that with hiring a GC who handles the entire project from start to finish unless they are freshly licensed and just getting started. If I was trying to finish 850sqft for under 50k I'd try to find some cheap labor to do the handyman work like finishing demo, leveling floors and framing then have multiple subs bid for mechanicals (HVAC, electrical, plumbing). Same with drywall and finishes. You don't need to do any work yourself but putting in the time to have competing bids from subs and hiring your own cheap labor is going to see you paying $55-$75/sqft compared to $100+ /sqft to have a GC get everything done for you. 

[Diane Manders]

I agree with @Ryan D. above but if you are not able to sub it out yourself or don’t have any experience doing that, I have a GC I have used in Philadelphia that is thorough and excellent.  I would estimate that it would cost you around 75 -80k to use him to get it all done for you. PM me if you would like his info. Good luck! 

[Marc Possoff]

@Ryan D. Thanks I know it’s an older thread. Would that pricing include any minor structural repairs like footings for a 2nd floor that over hangs about 5-6 ft and maybe sistering some joists? And what about heating and cooling? Thanks!