All Forum Posts by: David Robertson

Hey BP,

We just launched new User Management & Access Control functionality to our Flipper Force house flipping software that allows to add team members to your workspace and control user access so team members can only view and edit certain tools in the software.

This will allow you to create project teams and control user access based upon their roles in the company.

Acquisitions/Project Management/Accounting

Our new User Management & Access Control is perfect for project teams that have defined roles in the business for the 3 stages of a flip:

1. Acquisition
2. Project Management
3. Accounting

You can also use our new User Management functionality to grant access to individuals outside of your organization.

Contractor Access

You could give your General Contractor access to the Repair Estimator tool so they can create an estimate for you with their pricing directly in the app. Or you could give the contractor access to the Project Scheduler so they can create a project schedule and manage/edit the on-going schedule start and completion dates during the project.

Bookkeeper Access

You could also give your bookkeeper access to the Accounting tools and reports so they can enter expenses and manage your books

Virtual Assistant

Or you could give your virtual assistant access that manages data entry, tasks or expenses.

Learn more at the link below:

https://www.flipperforce.com/house-flipping-blog/new-team-management-access-control

When first looking at a house I can roughly price the rehab costs in my head based upon past project experience.  If I think the #s could work then I put together an itemized list of all the repairs with a price for labor and material.

As far as contingency, some investors will just add a blanket 10 to 30%+ contingency on the overall project cost.  So for example on a $50,000 rehab, they may add $5k to $15,000 to cover the project unknowns and unforseen issues...but I personally try to evaluate all of the risks on the project and allocate money toward those risks instead of just plugging a random blanket % of the overall project.

So for example if a house has a foundation issue, but I'm not sure how much it will cost I will plug in an allowance of $10,000 (or whatever seems reasonable) in my estimate to cover that cost.  This helps me get a better understanding of what the project risks are and helps better understand where my budget overages/underages are when I get bids from my contractors.

Outside of the risk allowances I may carry a small 5 to 10% contingency to cover miscellaneous change orders or buyer's inspection issues that aren't in my estimate or allowances, but it will really depend on the risks I see in the project.

Here's what you get with our new house flipping software!

Deal Analysis

Analyze deals to determine the maximum purchase price you should offer for your property.

Repair Estimation

Estimate Rehab Costs using our pre-built starter templates and database that include hundreds of common rehab costs and prices to help you estimate costs for your rehabs.

Rehab Project Management

Manage project schedules and project tasks to keep your rehab projects on-track.

Job Costing & Expense Tracking

Track your actual project expenses against your initial project budgets to forecast your budget overages and profitability.

Learn more about our house flipping software and sign-up for a free 30-Day Trial. No Credit Card Required!
https://www.flipperforce.com/

I am excited to announce that we have officially launched out of Beta and our Flipper Force house flipping software is now live!

For the past year we have been collaborating with our beta testers to continuously improve our house flipping software. From the beginning we have refused to charge a dime for our software until we were completely proud of the product we had built. With that goal in mind, we have launched over 15 new powerful features in 2019 to improve our software and continue our pursuit of building the best house flipping software you deserve.

Now after over a year of development, testing and several iterations on tools and features we have proudly launched out of Beta!

New Subscription Plans

Once the 30 Day Free Trial expires you will need to sign-up for a paid subscription to maintain access to your account. We have created 3 different Plans tailored for individual house flippers, small project teams & large house flipping organizations.
All plans include our complete solution with our Deal Analysis, Project Management, Accounting & Reporting.

Click to Learn More About Our House Flipping Software Pricing

Phase II Development

This is just the beginning! Over the course of the next few months we have an aggressive pipeline of features that we are going to be launching in order to continuously improve our software and build the house flipping software you deserve.

Here are the new tools and features you can expect to see in Phase II:

• Miscellaneous Enhancements (over a hundred small tweaks & improvements to improve User Experience)
• Rental Calculator/BRRRR Calculator
• Comps Calculator
• Material Manager
• Progress Photos Manager
• Contractor Bid Manager
• Google Calendar Integrations
• Export Expenses to Excel/CSV
• Upload Receipts
• Global Profit Statements
• Global 1099 Reports

Click to Learn More About Our Road Map

Thanks again for all of your continued support and we look forward to continuing on this journey with you well into the future!

Hi William,

Great advice on estimating rehab costs!  

I agree it all starts with education and practice!

From an education standpoint, I think all new investors should start by reading JScott's Book on Estimating Rehab Costs.  From there, populate a spreadsheet (or an estimating software) and start practicing putting together estimates and SOW for properties.

If you are looking for a way to share your spreadsheet with the BP community you can upload it to the file place and then share the link:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/files

You can create your own personal blog on BiggerPockets which sounds like a perfect place to share your experiences:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I think it's going to be very hard (if not impossible) to find an all encompassing software that incorporates a CRM, brokerage management, property management & construction management into one tool.

Spreadsheets or maybe a custom built Podio setup might be the way to go.  You could consider SmartSheet or AirTable, which are pretty customizable as well.

I dont even use the app.  Why not just open the BP website from your web browser?  

The BP website is very mobile responsive and gives you all the functionality you are needing for posting, editing and adding photos.

Hi Asia,

I'm biased, so I won't recommend any product in particular, but here are the top 6 functionalities you should look for in a Rehab Estimator tool:

1. Estimate Starter Templates & Pricing Databases
   
2. Ability to Customize Categories, Descriptions, Pricing & Notes
3. Ability to Save Your Own Custom Templates for Future Projects
4. Ability to Write a Scope of Work
5. Ability to Create Estimate Reports & SOW Reports
6. Ability to Track Your Actual Expenses Against Your Budget

#1 Estimate Starter Templates & Pricing Databases

Estimate Starter Templates and pre-built cost databases are a must-have feature to help you quickly get started estimating costs for your rehab projects.

Building your own estimate cost databases from scratch can take days, if not weeks of research. There are hundreds of repairs and material prices you will need to research in order to create your own cost database and start estimating costs for your rehab projects.

The Rehab Estimating software you choose should at least provide a starter database of common repairs and prices that you can use as a starting point to help you get started.

#2 Ability to Customize the Databases

Although Starter Templates & Estimate Cost Databases can save you substantial time getting started, ultimately you still need the ability to customize YOUR estimate databases to fit YOUR specific rehab project needs.

Rehab costs can vary substantially from rehabber-to-rehabber, depending on the location, property size, property style, property age, grade of finishes/materials, level of craftsmanship and many other factors.

When choosing a Rehab Estimating software, it's important you have complete control over the cost databases so you can truly customize every aspect of the estimate to fit your specific rehab project needs.

#3 Ability to Save Your Own Starter Templates & Custom Databases

Rehabbing and flipping houses is a very repetitive business. Although the Scope of Work may not be identical from house-to-house, for the most part, the repairs will be fairly similar.

Every time you start a new project you don't want to spend hours recreating new Estimates with new descriptions, quantities, prices, SOW notes & material SKU selections, when you've already created similar estimates on past projects. This is why it is so critical to be able to save your old Estimates as Templates that can be used for future projects!

The Rehab Estimating software you choose should give you the ability to save your own databases that you can re-use on future projects.

#4 Ability to Write a Scope of Work

When you create an Estimate for your rehab projects, you are creating a detailed list of repairs and quantities that need to be completed on the project.

While you are spending all of this time creating your Estimate, you may as well use this data to help you create a detailed Scope of Work that can be given to your Contractors.

The Rehab Estimating software you choose should have the ability to use your estimate data for generating a detailed Scope of Work that can be given to your contractors.

#5 Ability to Create Estimate Reports & SOW Reports

When you get done with your Estimate you need the ability to share your Estimate or Scope of Work data with your Business Partners, Lenders & Contractors in a printer friendly report.

The Rehab Estimating software you choose should be able to use your estimate data to generate Investment Reports, Estimate Reports & Scope of Work Reports in a printable or shareable format.

#6 Ability to Track Actual Expenses Against Your Budget

A solid rehab estimate is worthless if you don't effectively manage your budget and control costs.

Once you get a property under contract it's important to track your actual repair expenses against your initial repair budget to forecast your project's profitability.

Without a project budget in-place and a system to track your expenses you will have no idea if you are over or under budget on the project.

Other Intangibles

The software features and functionality are obviously the most important aspect of choosing a Rehab Estimating software, but there are other intangibles you need to consider such as software support, software training, the company's reputation and dedication to continuously improving their software platform.

If you are looking for a 'mobile app' for tracking change orders then your best bet will likely be BuilderTrend or Co-Construct.  They both have some pretty solid mobile apps from what I've seen.  

Although, I don't think they are necessarily the best tools for creating estimates or SOW for rehabs.