All Forum Posts by: Donny Nguyen

@Aaron Lovett Thanks for you input. I have considered the two options you mentioned but I am looking for a more cost effective way of doing this. It is not like I am or plan to neglect any repairs, not at all! I was simply seeing how other investors may be estimating their repairs.

@Jassem Abdal That's a great way of finding the actual cost (minus labor)! Love it and thank you.

@Cuong Le Thank you for the Podcast idea. That's definitely a way around it, prior to locking it up and then at that point I can easily have a general contractor for example come in and make bids.

@John Chapman I am most interested with your general rule of thumb. Thank you so much for sharing! I think this is a great way for me to get started, in conjunction with Jassem's estimation based on the cost of materials.

@Bryan H. @Rusty Hamontree Thanks guys, I will for sure research the cost of materials and check out those home improvement catalogs.

I really appreciate everyone chiming in on this discussion!

You are right and thank you John, I don't want to make risky choices. I've read in other BP post that, ultimately it comes down to being a good repair estimator yourself, but my dilemma is that I am completely inexperienced at it. Because of this, making arrangements to see the house seems pointless. Also, I would think it'll be impractical to bring a general contractor out every time just for estimates when there's a low chance that my offer would not be accepted. Especially if I would need to pay a percentage/flat fee each visit. I was thinking maybe I could use a "cheat sheet" of sorts, where I have a list of common repairs needed and a general price for each fix? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hello group,

Let's say I find a motivated seller with equity. How do I best estimate the properties repair cost without looking at it so that I can have a good Max Allowable Offer prior to locking it up?

Thanks, Donny.