The SFR buyer makes a bunch ton of money on his W2/1099 and simply wants to buy the house, pay it off, make some cosmetic updates and then do a lease-option in an appreciating area. 

Hey there,I'm looking for some insight in estimating cosmetic rehab costs in a SFR home in Tucson.

It is not a condo but I am one of the last to own the remaining units before he owns the entire complex.One of the property left vacant for so long got damaged by a small fire last week ( Only smoke and cosmetic damage) He now states that the damaged unit estimate is 88 000 $.

This house will be a cosmetic flip and I’ll keep my money in reserves for surprises.

So we paid $400 for the inspection for our condo and there’s just cosmetics we need to fix and an update of appliances in time.

@Jimmy Lieu using that thought process would you use a 3rd year medical student for brain surgery at a vet clinic? 

If that is how it is being marketed I would be concerned, because a good flip will address all major systems issues before putting 5 cents on cosmetics.

Cosmetic updates Lessons learned?

We could have "floated" the floor with concrete for around $5,000 but instead decided to pay a local foundation company $18,000 to put multiple helical piers under the house to give the foundation a "life-time guarantee", since we were worried this could come up on an inspection report during the selling process ultimately killing a sale or driving the price down.In the end, we needed to recoup an additional $18k on the sales side that did not change anything cosmetically to the house.

My husband and I have been doing mainly cosmetic renovations to it.