Philadelphia Renovation Costs

[Jeffrey Sommer]

Hi BP!

My husband and I are new investors looking in the Philadelphia area. While we initially were looking for turnkey opportunities, the numbers just don’t add up and we are now looking at renovation projects. We have come across a few 3 bedroom rowhomes in need of some rehab. If we decide to move forward with any home we plan to reach out to a few subcontractors for different bids to get more accurate pricing. However, while we are analyzing these deals we were hoping for some advice on rehab costs. Most homes would need the following. Size of the homes range from 950 – 1200 sq ft.

• Refinish hardwood floors / install new hardwood
• All new paint
• Minor outdoor paint (door, windows)
• Kitchen (new floors, paint, cabinets, appliances)
• Baths would need to be completely redone (1.5 – 2 baths)
• Bedrooms (new floors, new paint, update closet doors)
• Basements and outdoor areas would be nice to update but necessary (basement new floors and paint, outdoor clean up with new fence)

We live in NYC but could do some renovations on the weekend. (we have experience with painting and bathroom/kitchen demo)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Ethan Giller]

@Jeffrey Sommer those are good questions but hard to answer comprehensively in a forum reply because there are so many variables. I recommend you pick up J Scott's book in the Bookstore section: The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs.

(Note that I have no financial incentive for this recommendation, I've just bought it myself and found it very well written and reasoned.)