I was left a house in my name by my dad and I'm trying to get it to livable condition, he got the outside sided, new windows, and roof. the interior remains almost gutted, and if i had anything in it, it would not be a good investment, however considering i have 0 dollars in it, it makes it worth it for me to fix it up and go for the profit.

it needs complete plumbing done, how much would you estimate this to be on a 2 story home with 1 or maybe 1.5 baths?

How about electrical, just the main floor, and breaker panel, because the top 2 floors are wired and drywalled. HVAC?

Of course i'm just looking for general figures. I'm not one to accept a price and just go with it either, I will negotiate until me and the contractor meet somewhere in the middle. I'm just looking for ballpark estimates on these things since I really have no idea. I just want to know where i'm at before I go any further.

Thank you.

In my opinion, your best move is to sell it as is, rather than pay a contractor. That way, you'll be assured of no headaches, no hassles, and 100% profit. Doing what you mention in your posts will easily cost in the 5 figures. You may have to front that money, and you have no guarantee that the house will sell for enough above its current selling point to have justified spending more. Calculate how long it would take to fix things, and then calculate the interest you could earn on the profit in that time if you sell as is tomorrow.

Heres the numbers to give an idea. As is, I could only get about 15k for the house. If I put in about 20-25k it could be sold for about 60k. 60-25=$35,000 profit, over double what i would get as is. even if i had to lower that price to 45k i'd still be making more money, and i could see the potential to possibly sell it for 65 or so, but i'd stay cheap.

I know what kind of figures are involved, now that you know the numbers maybe you see the potential slightly more. Do you think I could get plumbing electrical and HVAC (giving a new furnace is already at the house) for around 12 or 15k?

My expenses after that work is done will go down immensely, because of my resources for the finishing touches...ie drywall, floors, kitchen cabinets..etc etc

We are now past the limit of my area of expertise, but I am sure that both WoW and Aminator will see this tomorrow, and both are capable of giving you excellent advice. (But if I absolutely had to answer, my guess is that you will easily have to put in more than $25,000 for all that you have outlined.)

My approach:

Go to your public library (or call first) and see if they have "Mean's residential remodeling estimating guide" Make sure you use this correctly (read the instructions carefully) and bear in mind that you might not be able to get the prices that they show... it's called estimating

Then I would call at least 2 local general contractors and have them come look at the job. Tell them what you'd like to do and have them estimate the project for you. Be upfront and tell them that you are trying to get an idea of cost but are considering having the work done.

Have a plumbing contractor come and look at the house. Plumbing is a wild card in my opinion and estimates rarely turn out to work. Having a plumber out will firm up a cost that could be the largest part of your budget.

Take a look at all your numbers that you collect - compare whether they are equivilent bids and then check and see if you think it's better to bid the work out on your own or to have a general contractor do all the organization for you. There is some risk in having a general contractor work for you but if you do some homework upfront, check references, check with creditors, and make sure you think highly of the person then it is definitely worth the money to use a general contractor rather than doing the work yourself.

If you are inexperienced in construction, you might at the beginning see thousands of dollars of savings that a General contractor knows are not real dollars. It takes a lot to remodel a home so just factor in the time, stress and current market into your decision.

My personal opinion is that it won't help you a bit to put the home on the market right now, so you may as well begin to remodel - especially if you have funds available. The housing market is glutted at the moment so you will want to wait till at least spring to list the home.

A simple way to arrive at a number for plumbing in Chicago that might be too high or too low in your area is to say that each fixture will cost $1000 in labor to pipe and install. So you simply take your costs of fixtures and add $1000 for each one. Example - shower $1000, toilet $1000, vanity $1000, bathtub $1000... total cost for three full baths = 9000 plus any costs for sewer work or water main. That's union labor in Chicago though.

Good luck. Let us know how it's going.