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How To Determine Repair Costs For House Flips Like A Pro

Home » Blog » Sell Your House Fast » How To Determine Repair Costs For House Flips Like A Pro

So many people struggle with knowing what the repairs a house will need should cost. This is a very important topic because if you don’t estimate your repair costs accurately, you could end up losing thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars on your flip.

Don’t do that.

I think we’d all agree it’s more important to spend the time upfront learning how to estimate repair costs. How exactly do you do that though?

This video covers just how to do accurately determine what repairs should cost for a flip. This is a must-see video if you are serious about flipping houses.

First, have you joined our private FlippingJunkie facebook group? Come network with us!

I hope you enjoyed the video. If so please don’t hesitate to click the ‘Like’ button below. You could also click the +1 button if you like cats. 🙂

Also, if you have any tips you’d like to contribute on determining repair costs or have any horror stories about mistakes made determining costs, please share them below. I look forward to reading about them.

 

-Danny

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Comments (25)

  • Craig Ramsey

    Great advice Danny! Thanks for sharing it with us.

    Craig

    • Danny Johnson

      Thanks, Craig. Glad you enjoyed it.

  • Kevin

    Of course, thank you for all the knowledge and taking the time to make the video for us. I have one question. Like you said with wholesaling, you don’t have to find all the info, you just need estimates for the end buyer. When you are taking the investor friendly contractor in to see a property, should we ask what everything costs to replace? Then after that use the info when you go alone to give rough estimates?

    • Danny Johnson

      Hey Kevin,

      You are correct. Have them break down the cost of replacing each and every item in the house. Write it all down. Then, when you look at potential flip deals, use those numbers for a repair estimate.

  • Michelle

    Another great video Danny! Thank you for this information. I have a question, on #2, if the house is vacant and now owned by the bank, can my realtor show it to me without it being listed on the MLS yet?

    • Danny Johnson

      It usually has to be listed first.

  • James

    Thanks for the info. You’ve mentioned investor clubs several times. Any in San Antonio you would recommend?

    • Danny Johnson

      Nope. There are some but I haven’t been to any of the new ones. If you do go to some of them and find one is better than the others, please let me know.

  • Jon Keeney

    Thanks for putting this together Danny! When you’re going through these “sample” banked owned houses, how do you explain the exercise to the contractor since it may very well be a house you’re not looking seriously at buying? Do you recommend paying a contractor for their time in these cases?

    • Danny Johnson

      Great question, Jon.

      The hope of getting regular business from an investor is usually enough for a contractor to spend the time to give the estimate. You could tell them also that by going through the house and getting an estimate to replace everything, you are gaining experience so that you don’t have to have them give estimates on all the houses you look at (seeings how you won’t get the majority of them). This will save them time.

      You could let them know that if you do make an offer and get the house, you will give them an opportunity to do the work.

      If you trouble finding one willing to the take the time, it wouldn’t hurt to pay them for the help.

  • Rob

    Great explanation of determining repair costs, Thanks!

    • Danny Johnson

      Thanks, Rob. Preciate it.

  • gene

    Danny,
    Did you ever use Angie’s list. I used them to find a roofer. The guy was great.
    When he left i couldn’t find anything on the grounds

    • Danny Johnson

      I have not. Thanks for sharing.

  • Nichole

    Hi Danny, I am learning so much! Just went through your 3 videos as well and I’m following your advise carefully! I did have one question though: I have been sending leads to 2 of my buyers, in the form of the addresses so that I can get feedback if they are interested in the properties. Is this a mistake? Somehow, I’m a little nervous that they will just work the lead themselves and take the deal? Is there anything I can possibly include directly in the email that would automatically make it a “deal finder” contract of sorts? I’m sure if I sent them a contract every time I had a lead they would look at me cross-eyed, so I want to avoid that! :-/ any help would be appreciated! 🙂

    • Todd Desper

      Great question Nichole. It is one that I had a while back when considering wholesaling. I also sent a few leads to potential buyers, never to hear from them again. So I was wondering the same thing; how do you keep ‘dishonest’ buyers from stealing your hard work/deals?

      • Danny Johnson

        Please see my response to Nicole.

    • Danny Johnson

      Nichole,

      Sorry to take so long to respond. Your comment must have slipped through the cracks.

      This is where it pays to take the time to build relationships with the serious buyers. Take the time to get them out to lunch to get to know them. Let me know that you will what you intend to and how you expect it to work out. You will give them a lead with an expected amount for referral fee IF they close on the deal. You expect them to keep you informed on whether a deal is being worked or if they won’t be able to work a deal. If they can follow these rules, you will continue to send them leads. If they do not, you will send them to other buyers. Let them know that you are not sending these to other investors. You are expecting them to work them. If they are not going to, they need to let you know.

      Hope this helps.

      • Nichole

        Very helpful! Thank you!

  • Brooks Conkle

    Good stuff Danny!
    I starred this in my email and just now got to watch.
    You’re always giving out real info.

    Do you use a simple contract with contractors?
    Ha, the one we have is like 20 pages long, but it works I guess..

    • Danny Johnson

      Hey Brooks. Been a while.

      Glad you got around to watching it.

      I’ve a contract that I use that is two pages that covers everything. It is a small font size though so it may equal six pages with 12 pt font. 🙂

      I can’t share it though because it is from a course I had bought a long time ago. I’ve been meaning to come up with my own.

      Checking out your site now.

  • David Lathrop

    Great info Danny thanks for the videos. It is so great to be able to learn from your experiences without keeping a hand covering my wallet, you are the man! Every webinar out there talks about I had no money, no job, etc.. then by the end we gained nothing from the webinar and wasted 30 minutes of our time, and all for a sales pitch of their $1000 system. Just wanted to let you know how much your appreciated. Thanks again!

    • Danny Johnson

      Thanks, David.

      Glad you are finding value in the blog. Keep in touch.

  • Chris

    Hey Danny,

    I’ve got some experience in flipping, but, am really learning a lot from your books and vids..Do you have a comprehensive method for determining the ARV of a home? I have found this to be a little bit tougher than it initially see. You may have already posted on this, but, i have not seen it on the site yet. Any advise or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

    -chris

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