Rehab Estimator

How it works

The repair number is the one most people guess on, and it is the one that decides whether a deal works, so this tool makes you price it line by line instead of picking a round number.

1. The house. Look up the address or type in the square feet, beds, baths and year built. Square feet drives paint, flooring, roof and plumbing, and the year built tells you what is probably hiding in the walls.
2. Finish level. A rental gets durable builder grade, a flip gets what buyers in that neighborhood expect, and high end is for the top of the market. The same kitchen costs very different money at each level.
3. What needs work. Check every item you would do. Quantities fill in from the house, and you can change any of them.
4. The answer. You get a likely number with a low to high range, a quick check against my rule of thumb for a house that age, and warnings for things like lead paint, old panels and galvanized pipe.

Then carry the number straight into Deal or No Deal to see if the deal works, or into Cash-to-Close to see the cash it takes.

Before you trust the number

• Walk the house. A checklist is only as good as what you saw. Open the panel, look at the water heater, get on the roof or look at it from the street, and run every faucet.
• The range is the point. The low number is what it costs when nothing goes wrong, and the high number is closer to what it costs when something does. Make sure the deal still works at the high number.
• Get real bids. Print the scope of work and give the same list to two or three licensed contractors, so their prices are on the same work and you can compare them.

The fine print

This is a planning estimate, not a contractor bid. Costs change by market, by house and by contractor, and nobody knows what is behind the walls until they are open. If you type in an address, I keep the address and your estimate to make these numbers better, and I never use an address to contact the owner or anyone else. Read the privacy policy for the details.