125 year old house reno estimate?

[Jay Lutz]

Hi all, There's a 125 year old MF property that I have my eye on, but it needs upgrades (roofing, electrical is very old, mechanical is ad hoc, asbestos mitigation, etc.). I'd also like to split a unit and add a unit if it improves the ROI.

1. How do I go about getting a cost estimate for this type of rehab / such an old building? Can this be done on general cost per SF only? Or is it necessary to walk through with a structural and MEP engineer and a contractor before putting numbers together?

2. I feel uncomfortable asking to walk the property with a contractor because I don't have an established relationship with a contractor, am not confident the deal will pencil without the rehab estimate, and would need the owner to approve the walkthrough even though some units are occupied. 

3. When I visited the property, my (investor-experienced) agent gave me some rent estimates for the property's units, but they seemed really high to me and seem out of line from what I've seen the market absorb. Any tips on this? How should I balance / evaluate this?

Thanks in advance!