Some Basic Contractor Costs to Expect When Rehabbing
Scenario: You picked up a foreclosure, and now you have to rehab it.
Just what do some basic services cost in rehabbing your real estate investment? These days, foreclosures are out there in numbers.
Many are in good shape, but many need work, work, work! Below are some general costs, but keep in mind each property is different, each area of the country is different, and some lower costs can be had based on personal relationships and how often you use a vendor, etc.
But the below will at least give you a rough idea of some of the costs to expect when you pick up a foreclosure property for rehabbing.
Electrician: I paid an electrician $2750 to re-wire a home (completely rewire) built in 1900.
Tax records for this particular street didn't go back before the year 1900, so pretty much everything in the county records for this street said 1900.
I venture to say the home is older.
It's between 1,100 and 1,200 square feet, brick, with front porch and back stoop.
HVAC: I paid an HVAC guy $3,000 to install an HVAC system in the same home referenced above.
This was for his services only, and he walked off mid-way the job with my new unit, but he had put in all the ducts and mechanicals for the new HVAC system.
(I still see his face, but that walk-off is an article of a different sort...
I'll meet him again one day...
I digress...
sorry.
) Before the new HVAC system, the home had gas heaters for heating and windowed air conditioners for cooling.
I found someone to finish the job for $300 and I found another underground unit for a little of nothing and, luckily, still came out way ahead.
Porch Rebuild: I paid a contractor $400 to rebuild a porch on a home built in the 40's.
The original porch had old, thin wood-type railings, but I had ten new, wide square columns built on the porch -- beautiful! The labor cost, of course, didn't include the cost of the wood and supplies, which was another $250.
This job was a deal! Ceramic Shower: I paid $1,500 to have a full ceramic, spa-like shower built in a bathroom that had no bathing facility.
Gorgeous shower...
and my contractor didn't install one of those inexpensive plastic shower insets at the bottom of the shower; he actually laid the ceramic on the floor of the shower such that it drains properly (at a slight decline in the middle around the drainage holes).
Nice.
Enclosed Back Porch with Windows: I paid $300 to have an old back porch fully surrounded with windows.
(I found the windows at a junk yard for $5.
00 -- five dollars! -- each.
) Kitchen Cabinet Installation: I had seven kitchen cabinets installed for $200, including new counters in a portion of the kitchen.
I paid $300 for the seven used cabinets and an approximately five and half foot used counter.
I salvaged the aluminum sink from the existing kitchen and had my contractor cut the used counter top to fit the sink.
I purchased another new, eight foot, smoky gray (almost black) kitchen counter for the other side of the kitchen to go over the other used cabinets.
Vinyl Floors: I had vinyl installed in a 13 x 13 feet kitchen for $200.
The vinyl, felt, aluminum stripping, and white, painted, wood quarter round costs me right at $600.
(Quarter round: Those wood strips that lend a nice finish to flooring at baseboards.
) This short list will give new investors some basic idea of what to expect in contractor services when it comes to rehabbing a home.
But, remember, the deal in your neck of the woods may be different than the deal in my neck of the woods (Atlanta area).
And, I use the same crew most of the time, so we have an understanding and I often get a bargain.
(Though, these guys are going up on me a little because everything -- especially gas! -- is costing more and more.
) Happy rehabbing!
Just what do some basic services cost in rehabbing your real estate investment? These days, foreclosures are out there in numbers.
Many are in good shape, but many need work, work, work! Below are some general costs, but keep in mind each property is different, each area of the country is different, and some lower costs can be had based on personal relationships and how often you use a vendor, etc.
But the below will at least give you a rough idea of some of the costs to expect when you pick up a foreclosure property for rehabbing.
Electrician: I paid an electrician $2750 to re-wire a home (completely rewire) built in 1900.
Tax records for this particular street didn't go back before the year 1900, so pretty much everything in the county records for this street said 1900.
I venture to say the home is older.
It's between 1,100 and 1,200 square feet, brick, with front porch and back stoop.
HVAC: I paid an HVAC guy $3,000 to install an HVAC system in the same home referenced above.
This was for his services only, and he walked off mid-way the job with my new unit, but he had put in all the ducts and mechanicals for the new HVAC system.
(I still see his face, but that walk-off is an article of a different sort...
I'll meet him again one day...
I digress...
sorry.
) Before the new HVAC system, the home had gas heaters for heating and windowed air conditioners for cooling.
I found someone to finish the job for $300 and I found another underground unit for a little of nothing and, luckily, still came out way ahead.
Porch Rebuild: I paid a contractor $400 to rebuild a porch on a home built in the 40's.
The original porch had old, thin wood-type railings, but I had ten new, wide square columns built on the porch -- beautiful! The labor cost, of course, didn't include the cost of the wood and supplies, which was another $250.
This job was a deal! Ceramic Shower: I paid $1,500 to have a full ceramic, spa-like shower built in a bathroom that had no bathing facility.
Gorgeous shower...
and my contractor didn't install one of those inexpensive plastic shower insets at the bottom of the shower; he actually laid the ceramic on the floor of the shower such that it drains properly (at a slight decline in the middle around the drainage holes).
Nice.
Enclosed Back Porch with Windows: I paid $300 to have an old back porch fully surrounded with windows.
(I found the windows at a junk yard for $5.
00 -- five dollars! -- each.
) Kitchen Cabinet Installation: I had seven kitchen cabinets installed for $200, including new counters in a portion of the kitchen.
I paid $300 for the seven used cabinets and an approximately five and half foot used counter.
I salvaged the aluminum sink from the existing kitchen and had my contractor cut the used counter top to fit the sink.
I purchased another new, eight foot, smoky gray (almost black) kitchen counter for the other side of the kitchen to go over the other used cabinets.
Vinyl Floors: I had vinyl installed in a 13 x 13 feet kitchen for $200.
The vinyl, felt, aluminum stripping, and white, painted, wood quarter round costs me right at $600.
(Quarter round: Those wood strips that lend a nice finish to flooring at baseboards.
) This short list will give new investors some basic idea of what to expect in contractor services when it comes to rehabbing a home.
But, remember, the deal in your neck of the woods may be different than the deal in my neck of the woods (Atlanta area).
And, I use the same crew most of the time, so we have an understanding and I often get a bargain.
(Though, these guys are going up on me a little because everything -- especially gas! -- is costing more and more.
) Happy rehabbing!
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