Buying a fixer-upper house in Central Indiana? 6 line items that destroy a rehab budget

If you’re buying a fixer-upper near Indianapolis, you need to know where rehab budgets actually break. If not, the roof, the walls and the paperwork eat your profit. But if you do, you price them before you make the offer.

1. The second layer on a roof. Someone saved money years ago by laying new shingles over old ones, and now you pay for both layers to come off. Each additional layer of tear-off adds 20% to 30%.

2. The trim-only trap. Full exterior paint runs $2 to $4 per sqft of interior floor space. Trim only runs $8 to $16.

Read that again. Painting only the trim costs more per foot than painting the whole house.

3. Foundation. Fixing a bowed or cracked wall runs $200 to $600 PER linear foot. Other foundation repairs run $1,000 to $20,000+. Note the plus sign. If you see a bowed wall, pay the engineer ($150 to $300 per hour) BEFORE you finalize an offer.

4. The 20-year-old unit. A full forced air system runs $8,000 to $16,000. But a 20-year-old unit that still runs is a negotiation point, not an automatic $16K line. Find out if it works before you budget the replacement.

5. The invisible bill. Dumpster: $400 to $1,200. Permits: $70 to $4,000. General contractor fee: 14% to 30% of renovation costs. Final cleaning: $200 to $500.

6. Gutters before roofs. Water stain on a ceiling near an outside wall? Check the gutters before you price a roof. Clogged gutters push water under the roof edge and look exactly like a roof leak. Cleaning runs $200 to $600.

None of these make the house look better. All of them show up on the bill.

You don’t need a house picked out or a plan. If you’re wondering what may or may not be possible for you, email me at nlamkin@c21scheetz.com and let’s talk it through.

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