What Rehab Actually Costs in Palm Beach County
Every fix-and-flip calculator online uses a national average rehab number — usually somewhere around $20–$50 per square foot with no explanation of what's actually included. That number is close to useless when you're underwriting a specific deal, because it hides the one thing that actually determines your outcome: which repairs this particular house needs, and what those repairs cost here in Palm Beach County right now.
The numbers below come straight from the same 179-item repair-cost catalog that powers our Deal Analyzer — the same line-item pricing a licensed GC uses to bid real jobs, not a scraped national average.
Three Rehab Scope Tiers — Illustrated on a 1,600 Sq Ft Home
| Scope | What's Included | Est. Cost / Sq Ft | Total — 1,600 Sq Ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light / Cosmetic | Paint in & out, refresh flooring in main areas, refinish existing kitchen cabinets, update one bathroom, landscaping cleanup | $12 – $16 | ~$19,000 – $24,000 |
| Medium / Full Cosmetic + Systems | Median kitchen replacement, two full bathroom replacements, new flooring throughout, full paint, AC unit + electrical panel, roof patching | $27 – $34 | ~$43,000 – $54,000 |
| Heavy / Full Gut | High-end kitchen, master + full bath replacement, new roof, full rewire, new plumbing system, full HVAC replacement, flooring and drywall throughout, new windows, permits | $50 – $65 | ~$80,000 – $104,000 |
These figures already include D&Co's standard 15% contingency — the buffer every experienced flipper builds in for what gets found once demo starts. A rehab estimate with no contingency line isn't a conservative estimate; it's an incomplete one.
The Line Items That Actually Move Your Number
Rather than a single per-square-foot multiplier, here's what individual categories actually cost when priced by the item — pulled directly from our catalog:
- Kitchen: $6,500 (refinish existing cabinets) to $12,500 (high-end full replacement) — median kitchen replacement runs $10,500
- Bathroom: $3,000 (half bath) to $9,000 (large master bath, full replacement) — a standard full bath replacement runs $5,500
- Roofing: $4.00/sq ft for a full architectural shingle rip-and-replace; $600–$900 for a patch/repair
- Flooring: $1.35/sq ft carpet, $2.00/sq ft vinyl or LVP, $4.00/sq ft laminate hardwood, $6.00/sq ft engineered hardwood, $7.00/sq ft solid hardwood
- Electrical: $2,000 for a panel replacement alone, up to $7,000 for a full rewire with new panel and fixtures on a 1,500 sq ft house
- Plumbing: $7,000 for an entirely new plumbing system in a 1,500 sq ft, 3-bed/2-bath house; $600 for a standard 40-gallon gas water heater
- HVAC: $1,700–$2,000 for a unit only, up to $6,000 for a full gas-fired system with new ductwork
- Painting: $2.00/sq ft interior only, $2.00/sq ft exterior only, $3.00/sq ft combined interior and exterior
- Permits: $750–$1,500 for a standard remodel permit, up to $5,000 for an addition
Assumption
"$30 a square foot is a safe rehab number for any flip."
Reality
$30/sq ft covers a medium cosmetic-plus-systems scope. If the house needs a new roof, a full rewire, and a new plumbing system on top of that, you're underwater on your rehab budget before you've bought a single cabinet.
Assumption
"A contractor's verbal walkthrough estimate is close enough to underwrite the deal."
Reality
A walkthrough catches what's visible. It doesn't catch what's behind the walls — undersized electrical panels, cast iron plumbing near end of life, or a roof deck that's soft under the shingles. Those are exactly the items that blow up a rehab budget after closing.
Why the Contingency Line Isn't Optional
On every full report we build, we hold back 15% of the repair subtotal as contingency — not because we expect to need all of it, but because on rehab work in Florida's older housing stock (galvanized or polybutylene plumbing, aluminum branch wiring, undersized electrical service, soft roof decking), something almost always surfaces once demo starts. A rehab budget with zero contingency isn't aggressive — it's just wrong.
"The number one place I see investors get hurt isn't the big-ticket items — it's death by a thousand cuts. They budget the kitchen and both bathrooms carefully, then forget that the whole interior needs a coat of paint, the trim needs replacing where the old baseboards got water damage, and the permit fees alone run $1,500–$2,000 depending on scope. None of those individually break a deal. All of them together absolutely can."
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