@Joshua Nash, I like this topic.
@Matt K. and @J Scott have great points. You want to have an educated guess on the project costs and also a strategy on finding the right bid from a contractor. J Scott's book is a great starting platform on figuring out the rehab costs. I also recommend the RSMean's 2018 Contractor pricing on Repair and Remodeling costs when you feel like you're getting the hang of it. You can figure prices even further and can also apply location factoring.
Then getting contractors to see the property and placing bids is very important. You want to weed out the prices that don't make sense, such as if they're too low or too high. If a contractor provides a scope of work along with their price, that's great information to have. You'll be able to figure out even further if the costs make sense, or if there's something you didn't pick up on or priced.
