Does any1 have ANY idea how much it would cost to redo the interior of an entire apt? (hardwood, washer)

[YoungTraveler2011]

My family is looking to buy a cheap as hell condo on a high rise that is bank owned (40-50k). However, the interior needs to be completely redone. The building is old so the appliances are old as well. We will be paying straight up cash. The condo has indoor garages, pool, fitness center, sauna, party room, valet parking, shipping & receiving dock, among other stuff. The location is perfect for us because work is only 15-20 mins away for everyone and the best area to party is 10 mins away.

We're trying to get an idea of how much it would cost to get it completely rebuilt inside. The good thing about this is that since the apartment is cheap, we can rebuild the interior anyway we'd like.

Size of the condo: 1,800 sq ft.
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5

Things that will need to be done/we will need to buy:

1. Dry wall of the entire apartment will need to be replaced.
2. All walls will need to be painted.
3. Half of the condo will have hard wood floor.
3. The other half (bedrooms) will have carpet.
4. Washer & dryer.
5. Three toilets.
6. Redo the whole kitchen - Microwave, oven, refrigerator, sink, counters, shelves, etc.
7. Sinks for the bathrooms (3).
8. Doors, yes, doors. About 8 of them.
9. Minor things, such as these for the entire place:



10. There more things, but this should be enough to have an idea of how much it would cost to do it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[mawipafl]

I can recommend a couple of ways to estimate the costs of your projects: 1) do an online search for per square foot costs of particular projects or 2) spend an afternoon at a home improvement store (such as Lowes or Home Depot) and do a little math.

1) A quick google search for ballpark estimates gave me
Remodeling Costs - Renovation Costs - Estimated Remodeling Costs
and Square Footage Cost Calculator
and Construction cost calculator/estimator for new houses, renovations & additions/extensions and many others.
You'll see that per square foot costs vary widely.

2) This second option means doing some homework first. (I estimated some projects this way.) Set up a spreadsheet and list every project and its components. Measure the square footage of walls, floors, ceilings, etc. and include them. Print it out and head to a home improvement store and start writing down prices such as square foot prices for sheetrock and flooring, price of paint, appliances and fixtures, etc. etc. That will give you a basic materials cost, and to that you'd have to add labor costs. This spreadsheet will not give you true estimates, but you will know whether renovating will cost $5,000 or $50,000.

[chet everett]

The "back of envelope" costs that I generally start with are what I like to call "lumber yard costs" for materials. For a 1800 sq ft condo with 2.5 baths I cannot imagine that re-drywalling the whole place AND getting new doors AND new bathroom fixtures AND new kitchen appliances AND new cabinets AND new contertops AND new flooring will be anything less than $50k in raw material. If this is a highrise I would put the LABOR COSTS at the highest tier locally -- which could easily be 3x materials. That gives an eye popping first cut of $200k. If you feel comfortable being "in the hole" for 4x your acquisition cost that might make sense in a condo that is otherwise in high demand however the situation I have seen in many many many condos is that underwater unit owners have stopped paying association fees, renters have moved in and there is about zero chance that it will make economic sense...

The reason the place is priced so low is because the seller is probably hoping to get an investor that wants to buy multiple units. If they can renovate several units at once their costs drop -- it like they have an "assembly line of renovation". The could probably cut their labor in half and even get some discount on their material...

[BobKovacs]

Here's my ballpark of costs for your items. The costs listed by each item are based on typical single-family home costs here in, and will likely be +/- 50% higher because of the PITA factor of working in a high-rise. You'll also have to adjust based on the actual city you're looking to buy in- places like LA, Chicago, and NYC will command much higher prices.


1. Dry wall of the entire apartment will need to be replaced. Assuming a rule-of-thumb of 4x the floor square footage for total SF of walls and ceilings, you're looking at around 7,200sf of drywall, at $1.50-$2.00/sf hung and finished. Add in removing the existing drywall, and you're at around $15-20,000 for this task.

2. All walls will need to be painted. Figure 7,200sf of surface at $0.60/sf, or around $4,000-4,500.

3. Half of the condo will have hard wood floor. 900sf of hardwood can run anywhere from $3,600 to $9,000+, depending on the species, finish, and underlayment requirements in the high-rise.

3. The other half (bedrooms) will have carpet. 900sf of decent carpet will run you around $3,500.4. Washer & dryer. You can spend $500 for the pair, or $4,000 for the pair. You may also need a condensing dryer if the condo isn't set up with a dryer exhaust stack, which will increase the cost.

5. Three toilets. Assuming you're not moving plumbing, and are just replacing the toilets, they'll run anywhere from $300 to $1,200+ (depending on the toilet you select).

6. Redo the whole kitchen - Microwave, oven, refrigerator, sink, counters, shelves, etc. You can spend anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 on this depending on the size of the kitchen and the materials/finishes you select.

7. Sinks for the bathrooms (3). Again, assuming no plumbing moves, anywhere from $400 to $1,500+

8. Doors, yes, doors. About 8 of them. Hollow-core 6-panel doors will run you around $250-300 each- you can easily spend 5x that if you want solid doors, or stain-grade.