We took on a major rehab project. Please help!

[Annie L.]

Hello! Long story short, we were trying to wholesale a property but ended up closing on it instead. It's our first project and we want to do the BRRR method. Problem is, the extent of the renovation is HUGE. It's a 1870 house and has structural issues in the foundation and retaining walls around the house. There's mold because water has been getting through a hole in the roof. There may or may not be termites and there seems to be poison ivy draping over a retaining wall on the side of the property. And there's stuff everywhere from the prior residents who abandoned it 5 years ago. People always say that as newbies, you shouldn't take on anything extensive but alas here we are. I would really appreciate any guidelines people have about the order of steps needed to rehab something like this. I have J Scott's Flipping book and Estimating Rehab Costs book but there doesn't seem to be a guideline on order of events. There has already been a home inspection and yesterday we had a structural engineer come out to assess the structural issues. He basically told us that we should get it cleaned out and gutted first then bring him back because he can't see everything with all the obstacles especially in the basement. He also advised that we get one side of the roof redone as early as possible since we don't want any more water getting in. We also brought a contractor to give us an estimate but again I guess you can't really tell what needs to be done until all the stuff is out and we gut the place down a bit. J Scott basically says get a Scope of Work figured but that is only if you know exactly what needs to be done. At this point, we can't see everything and there seems to be other issues that need to be addressed sooner right? Any thoughts on how we should approach this?

Here is the link to more pictures:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xujxwl05ad2quw2/AAC4b4D...

purchase price: $35K

ARV: $170-$190K based on ur own estimates and confirmed by other investors.

We're hoping the large spread provides enough cushion room for us.

[Charles Biter]

I am going to offer a different strategy since this is your first rehab.  Have you though about a prehab?  I would clean out the house put a new roof on it and then wholesale it.