Ok, my ques is going to sound stupid, but please bear with me.I will be completely rennovating my 85 yr old dad's kitchen. It's a very small, cement block house in fl built in 1954.I am going to try and keep the costs down as he can't afford a 40k$ redo.When I watch the flipping shows, they start out with a 40k budget and redo the WHOLE house, structure work,new kitchens, etc. Big jobs. Then I see the non-flip shows where a designer and contractor come in and spend that same amt on just the kitchen.How can a flipper save so much money and get the whole house redone, but an average person wouldn't come close to that lower price??
I figure some difference is in doing some sweat equity, being your own contractor, etc. Also, would I purchase materials,trying to avoid markup, or leave it to who I hire? I still can't see where all the savings come from when flippers do it compared to a reg person wanting to redo the kitchen or bath with a 15K - 20K budget??? Please advise and stop my wondering! lol. Also,I did read that a lot of building mattierals (dry wall,lumber..) has gone way down in price, which I figure could help my job. THANKS for listening, it's probably obvious, but I feel I'm "mssing" something. Regards, deb in fla

1st problem is you are in Florida.. With the continual chase of hurricane and storm damage down there. Contractors are at a premium. Depending on the size of the kitchen. A complete redo down to bear block and lumber shouldn't csost you more than 18-22K depending on what kind of cabinets and countertops you use. Slab granite will run you anywhere from 22-50 per square foot, flooring tiles are cheap.

I was just in Florida 2 weeks ago.. I would have loved to mix in a little kitchen job wile I was down there. What part of Florida are you in? I may be coming back down late spring.

I have just started a Flip for someone I met on here. If you read the posts you will see our conversations back and forth. After a meeting and a few phone calls I have a depsot check in hand and his project is tennatively set for completeion feb 15th.

I feel someone flipping a house for profit has a bigger vision than just one room. They want the place to look great, but can look past their own tastes and try to stick with what works. I never cut corners when I flip, just maximize what I put into the house. Eye appeal is my drive, not to mention I do 90% of the work myself. That is huge when it comes down to the bottom line.

Material costs are usually marked up by contractors, not all, but most, but they do get them cheaper, so maybe get bids from them stating cost of materials and labor, so you can look at prices yourself!

As to shows, they are just shows! Flipping shows aren't "real"! They say Bob bought this house for $x, put $y into it, and sold it for $z making a profit of $q, though it's not true. There are no set cost with anything, every flip show fails to tell you carrying costs(though most mention it now), broker fees, not to mention taxes!! If you don't own a house for at least two years, you have to pay taxes on the profit, someone posted here that it was as high as 44%.

So the point is, these are shows, if you want to design a kitchen, you can spend over $100k, or you coud build one for $10-$20k, using premade cabinets, and granite tile counters, I've seen premade cabinets for $100-$200 a cabinet, and granite tile @ $2-$4 a square foot.
It's all in what you use for materials. Check your local Graigslist, you sometimes see really good cabinets for sale pretty cheap.

I just got finish watching a guy named Bolo on Flip That house. He saved a lot of money.

Im doing a flip for some one I met on these boards. Just an example. We had to add more electriecla work to the house My regular electritian came in at 4,250. The owner thought the number was high. He brought in a guy he used before. He was just over 6,000.00 Thats why hiring a general contractor is the right thing to do!!