Contractors? How much for Flooring and electricity?

veneficus

veneficus

New member
Sep 12, 2008
641
7
0
I know this isn't the best place to post this, but surprisingly, i know some of you are the jack of all trades.

Went to a house, in the area of my choice, that was a "Short Sale". The Houses around it are 230-270k.

It didn't have complete kitchen(most the cabinets were there). flooring, Paint, Trimming, and a furnace. Assuming i put in wood/carpet.

Also the ceramic tile was in the kitchen already.

The cost of the short sale house is 150k.

I think i'm going to go through with a bid, but i need some outside advice.

How much do you think needs to be put in this house to make it complete, it's about 2800-3200 sqft, built in 2007.

Edit: electricity was about 70% finished and some lights even worked.
 


how does it have unfinished electricity if it was built in 07?

can you explain what is exactly going on with the house as a whole?

with the shortsale im guessing they ran off with the appliances, sinks, maybe some counter tops, light fixtures etc
 
As far as the electric goes no way to tell without more info. Are the studs exposed or is it drywall? How many outlets, switches, boxes, ect ect ect

Flooring is really cheap. You can go all out with special designs and such. But pretty much its materials and labor isn't much more.

As far as how much needs to be put in.. again impossible to tell without complete details maybe even a walk through
 
Disclaimer, I'm no expert at this stuff so take my advice with a grain of salt...

Are you trying to flip it or you want to live in it? That can change things quite a bit. Cosmetic stuff (flooring, drywall repair, paint etc) is generally pretty cheap. Shop around a little, places like lumber liquidators often have good deals. Laminate is quite a bit cheaper and easier to install, hardwood probably adds a bit of value...but it's incremental usually. Look around at comparables in the area. Spend most of your money in the kitchen and bathrooms if you're eyeing resale. The electrical thing kind of scares me a little. Check into the plumbing as well and of course the overall structural integrity of the residence. Shit like that can really kill your budget when there are surprises.

My advice, go make friends with a GC and have him give you an objective opinion after a walkthrough / inspection.
 
Flooring is usually paid by square foot plus material (price varies on material type and skill level). Find out the square footage and multiply it by $3.00 (this is probably average for installing flooring, it also depends on the type of flooring i.e. nail down flooring, floating flooring, tiling, etc..) and then add in the material costs and that should give you a rough estimate of the flooring and instillation costs, could be less or more.

Electricity is probably paid by the hour or the job, get an estimate.
 
Hard to know for sure without knowing proportions, degree of finish, etc.

rough estimate might look like:

Low end flooring (bamboo, oak, etc) $3/sq.ft. @ 1000sq.ft. = 3k
High end flooring (chestnut, walnut, tile, etc) $6/sq.ft. @ 1000sq.ft = 6k
Carpet $3/sq.ft. @1000sq.ft. = 3k
Flooring labor $1/sq.ft. = ~3k

Electrical – don’t skimp, hire someone good – guessing 8-12k if the house is 70% there

Kitchen – final cabinets, trim, appliances? Anywhere from 3k up to 10k

Paint, trim, furnace, does the house need these? Not clear from your post.

A 3000sq.ft. house full interior paint job is 5-8k time+materials

Full trimout is 8-12k time + materials, that could include some doors/windows/cabinets/counters/etc.

Furnace is 1k up to infinity depending on how nice you’re going

So super rough estimate:

10k floors
10k electric
5k kitchen
5k paint
10k carpentry/misc. building
3k furnace

~40k

Everything is priced a bit high + based on New England (expensive) building prices. And again, super rough, too many variables with contractor prices, material quality choices, etc. to be accurate

You can definitely get away with spending a lot less and still have a pretty much finished house. Especially if you know people in the biz.

Edit: trim price is probably a bit low.
 
I was a GC and EC for many years up to and while I was building an online business. I'd be glad to help you skull out a rough budget, but I need a ton more info, and be aware without a detailed walk-through it will be very rough, but probably close enough for a short sale position.

The goal is to figure worst-case scenario, and then cut the bid under that as far as you can ;) PM me.

EDIT: @MSTeacher- those prices are totally whack, mate. I don't know where you buy Oak floors sanded and finished for less than $8 a sqft, and the rest of your numbers are just as bad. A Furnace for $1-3k? Try $5-6k with a/c for an 85% eff. Electrical would probably be closer to 12k for the whole shebang, not just 30% to finish.
 
This is all good advice guys, really appreciate it. Drywall is up, i'm going to bring a buddy of mine over there tommorow, and basically try and get the house under 185k, with everything together. Sucks it's a short sale, cause i could wait months before knowing anything. Most of the bathrooms seem to be finished, I can take some pictures of it, but I really think this may be the one. I have some guys that can do the cheap labor, and licensed guys to do the harder stuff. I'll have my guy run the prices, and bring it back here to make sure he's right. I think your guys estimate of 40-50k seems to be right. but i'll see what i can do with cheaper labor.
 
If you are prepared to do 40-50k and don't have good resources and references for the labor and type of work needing to be done consider getting multiple bids on the job as a whole from a general contractor.

Depending on what is left to finish exactly, shit needs to be scheduled properly so guys aren't working on top of one another or worse, waiting for another crew to finish delaying things further.
Also in most cases permits have to be pulled, inspections done at the specified interval, etc.

If you've never dealt with this and can't afford to pay for delays (extra mortgage payments, changes, etc) you may actually save in the long run going through a good GC.

If it's really not that much work to be done, you might not need to take this advice, but often projects like this where you haven't pinned down everything needing done and planned for surprises...well, you get surprised.
 
I'm an electrician and it all depends on the "70%" of the electric done. We are rewiring a house that is all gutted and I think we are charging around like $1500-$2500. Includes the new service and new panel too. House is two floor, basement, attic, 2 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms I think. But that is also because its old wiring that home insurance companies won't accept anymore. We don't charge really high prices, but some people charge ridiculous prices.

Shouldn't be that much if what you say is true and 70% of the wiring is done.
 
Have you checked on the previous permits? I am thinking this home was started and not finished? Your local building authority may require you to update the home to current code and energy guidelines. I am assuming it was never given a certificate of occupancy due to the incomplete electric. If the electric was simply "stolen" then my comments are not applicable.

Though I would check on if it was ever "finaled" and also check with local code enforcement to find if there are any outstanding code violations and related fines that oftentimes do not show up on title.

An incomplete house should be negotiated for short sale at 70% (max 80%) of After Repair Value less cost of repairs.

You can get a normal short sale for 90% or less against current market value if you have the proper negotiator. I have about 20 of these that we are negotiating to buy and flip in California right now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom