Scoping the rehab: the 30-minute walk-through that prices a house
Five systems, two money rooms, and a per-room rate — the walk-through method that lands within 15% of final cost, plus the walk-away signals that save you from the houses that eat flippers.
You screened with napkin bands in Lesson 4. Now the skill that turns a showing into an offer: pricing a renovation room by room and system by system in thirty minutes, accurately enough to sign a contract against. This is the walk-through method — and it starts with the five checks that decide whether you should be estimating at all.
First: the big five (and the walk-away signals)
Renovation dollars cluster in systems, so systems get checked first — each is large, binary, and readable in minutes:
| System | The check | Replace cost |
|---|---|---|
| Roof | Ceiling stains inside, shingle condition, sag | $8–15k |
| HVAC | Data plate age (15+ years = budget it), does it run | $6–12k |
| Electrical | Panel type — fuse box or knob-and-tube = rewire | $8–15k |
| Plumbing | Galvanized supply, water pressure, water heater age | $5–15k |
| Foundation | Stair-step cracks, sloping floors, doors that don't close | Get a structural opinion first |
Walk-away signals — not "price it higher," walk (or reprice as a different deal entirely): active foundation movement without an engineer's number, widespread mold from an unresolved water source, fire damage beyond one room, and pre-1976 mobiles or unpermitted additions your buyer's lender will reject. The most profitable sentence in flipping is "this one's not for me" said in minute six.
Then: money rooms and the per-room rate
Kitchens ($12–25k full mid-grade) and baths ($6–12k each) get priced individually — they're 40% of most budgets and 90% of the buyer's decision. Everything else rides a per-room rate: $2.5–4k per room covers paint, LVP, doors, hardware, and lighting at rental-to-retail grade. Add exterior line items (windows $400–700 installed each, siding, landscaping curb-appeal minimum $2–4k), then the forgotten ten — permits, dumpsters (plural), utilities during rehab, builder's risk insurance, re-inspections, punch list, staging — a routine $5–10k the napkin never saw. Then contingency as a real line: 10% cosmetic, 15% moderate, 20%+ on guts and anything pre-1950. It will be spent. That's why it's in the budget. → The full method, all three levels
Design to the exit, not to yourself
The scope's strategic rule: renovate to the neighborhood's comps, not your taste. Your Lesson 6 comps literally show you the finish level the ARV pays for — matching it is the job; exceeding it is charity to the next owner. The buyer-psychology priorities, in order: kitchen, primary bath, curb appeal, light (paint + fixtures), flooring continuity. The classic over-improvements — the $8k appliance package in a $240k neighborhood, the bathroom addition the comps don't reward — are how decent deals become break-evens with beautiful photos.
The pitfall to skip: estimating from the listing photos. Photos hide the panel box, the water heater's date, and the smell — every five-figure surprise lives in exactly the places photos don't go.
Do this now: Print the checklist (big five → kitchen/baths → per-room → exterior → forgotten ten → contingency) and walk any three houses with it this month — open houses count. Time yourself. By the third walk-through you'll be under 40 minutes and within striking distance of a contractor's number, which is exactly where Lesson 9 picks up.