Homewyse Review: How To Use Homewyse As A Real Estate Investor

One of the most challenging hurdles real estate investors face in building their business is accurately estimating the costs of rehab or renovation.

At the same time, homeowners are often left unsure how to budget for home improvement projects or repairs and don’t have an easy way to ensure a quote is on target after reaching out to contractors.

Homewyse aims to make the whole process a bit easier for contractors, investors, and homeowners by providing a platform that offers cost estimates on installation and materials for a wide variety of home remodeling, repair, and renovation jobs. Read on to see how it stacks up in this Homewyse Review. 

• What Is Homewyse?
• What Is The Mission Of Homewyse?
• How Does Homewyse Work?
• What Does Homewyse Offer?
• Homewyse FAQ
• How To Use Homewyse Cost Calculator (3 Methods)
• Final Thoughts About Homewyse

What Is Homewyse?

Homewyse is an online reference platform for home repairs, maintenance, and renovations, providing cost estimates for a variety of materials as well as estimates for installation.

Investors and contractors can make use of the platform’s project calculators to help them estimate their project costs, while homeowners may find the platform useful when trying to budget for repairs or verifying an estimate from a handyman is on target.

For real estate investors, Homewyse can help take some of the guesswork out of estimating the cost versus value of renovations for prospective investment properties, including both the material cost and labor involved. Armed with these numbers, an investor should be able to better determine which properties are worth purchasing and which properties deserve a hard pass.

Another use for real estate professionals is the ability to use Homewyse to create professional project and labor cost lists, which can be used in presentations with potential investors.

What Is The Mission Of Homewyse?

The mission of Homewyse is to provide data that enables real estate professionals and contractors to put together a customized, detailed estimate for a number of home improvement projects, from roofing and painting to concrete and remodeling. The data provided includes costs for materials as well as installation.

At the same time, this type of data can be helpful to a homeowner who is hoping to find a benchmark for the materials and installation cost of any given home project.

The idea behind Homewyse is to take some of the guesswork out of creating proposals for renovations and repairs, whether you are facing a DIY project or needing to validate quotes you are receiving from contractors.

Finally, data from Homewyse can be used to determine a fair price for a given property based on the cost estimate of needed renovations.

How Does Homewyse Work?

Homewyse is more than just a database of home improvement costs. Homewyse uses a step-by-step process it calls Lists, which is simply an easy way for the platform to itemize project features and the corresponding estimates. You can make a list for each project and keep them organized on the platform.

Organizing the numbers as Homewyse Lists also makes it easy to incorporate estimates into a full proposal if you are presenting a property to an investor for consideration.

The estimates used in Lists make use of the most recent U.S. average pricing data from the Homewyse.com platform but do allow for manual adjustments as needed. Lists can even be saved and then reused over and over for similar projects, edited to customize for any given job.

Lists can be saved on a free account on www.homewyse.com so they can be accessed at any time, from a variety of devices, including tablets and smartphones. You can use Lists for a variety of purposes, including jobs involving concrete, drywall installation, HVAC installation, exterior and interior painting, flooring, carpentry, kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodeling, among others.

As a real estate professional, you could build a number of “standard” lists that can serve as masters or templates for a variety of projects that you can then customize for each of your projects.

Getting started is as easy as creating a free Lists Basic account on Homewyse and creating your first price list. Once logged in, you can choose Copy Homewyse Template, then customize a template to fit your needs.

Under the costs tab, you’ll be able to adjust your hourly wage and under the markup tab, you can edit the material and installation cost, right down to the square foot, which will enable you to increase or decrease your margins, and therefore, profitability.

You can use the other tools to make adjustments on items like material and labor costs per square foot or multiples thereof, and ensure you’re in the ballpark. Be sure the geographical area matches your desired location. After you’ve edited and customized all categories on your template, you can give it a name and save it so you can refer back to it in the future.

Check out this quick video below that talks about getting started with Homewyse Lists!

What Does Homewyse Offer?

For the real estate professional, Homewyse offers a way to estimate the cost of contracting repair services, renovation, or other home improvement projects so you can estimate the maximum price you can pay for a property and still realize your desired profit.

Unless you have the skills and experience for a do-it-yourself project, you can use Homewyse’s data to compare with proposals you receive from professional contractors.

Through its Homewyse List feature, real estate professionals and contractors can create and save templates for future use so they can be recalled and customized for various properties and projects.

For the homeowner, Homewyse’s extensive database will provide the kind of sought-after metrics to determine a reasonable home improvement project cost.

Read Also: Top 23 Real Estate Wholesaling Software To Scale Your Business

Homewyse FAQ

Homewyse offers a lot of features directed at aiding contractors and real estate professionals. The platform offers several tutorial videos to help you understand how to use the platform. There are multiple ways to estimate renovation and home improvement costs.

The following questions and answers can help you make an informed decision as to whether Homewyse is a helpful tool for your business.

How Much Does Homewyse Cost?

The Lists Basic version is free and will get you 1100+ pre-built cost items and the ability to start your own lists having 10 as the limit. The Lists Pro version costs $8.25 a month with a 1-year subscription, with this version you get a straight-up improvement from the Basic feature with many more new features and benefits like priority email support, unlimited saved Job Lists, and daily data backup.

What Is The Name Of The Company That Publishes Homewyse?

Interestingly, Homewyse is operated by one person, owner Melvin Badgett. Mr. Badgett launched the concept in 2006 as a free platform. About six years later, he added some premium components and began offering a paid option alongside the original free service.

At the time he added the premium features, Mr. Badgett also formed an LLC known as Costwyse, which is the parent company now associated with the Homewyse website.

Does Homewyse Have An App?

Yes, Homewyse can also be accessed through an app. Whether you are using a free or a paid account, you can save your project pricing lists and access them on the go from your iPhone or Android smartphone or tablet.

Is Homewyse Accurate?

The Homewyse platform offers calculators to produce price estimate lists for various material and labor costs. These lists use Homewyse data to help the user calculate the necessary estimates.

Homewyse.com lists its price data sources at the bottom of each calculator page. Once a specific job or project is chosen from one of the calculator pages, the list of data sources can be found at the bottom of the page.

The platform states that it uses a number of factors to come up with its material estimates, including reputable industry publications, as well as operating experience, best practices, and even, simply, rule-of-thumb. Homewyse states that it periodically collects expense data on materials, equipment, and disposal for the purpose of updating the numbers used in the calculators.

Still, the company is quick to note that all of its estimates should be considered approximate cost ranges based on typical conditions. It cautions against using its estimates for anything but preliminary planning purposes and the figures should not take the place of actual quotes from qualified professionals.

Before making commitments or decisions, Homewyse recommends contacting reputable vendors who can provide accurate project assessments and quotes.

Homewyse uses the Unit Cost Method to calculate its estimates. According to the platform, this is the same method that all major construction organizations use as well and is considered an industry best practice.

As its name would imply, the unit cost method for estimating projects begins by dividing the job into individual components. The cost for each of the project’s components is first calculated, then all costs are added together to achieve the total construction cost of the project.

Homewyse notes that labor costs are often the biggest wildcard since they can vary greatly depending on the time of year, geographical region, and local supply and demand conditions. The platform bases its labor estimates on wage and overhead cost statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, along with other sources, as listed on the page for each calculator.

How Much To Install Windows Homewyse?

Homewyse estimates the basic cost for window installation will range from $559 to $869 per window. However, actual costs will vary, depending on geographical area, site conditions, and other factors. This information can be found under the platform’s Install calculator, in the trim carpentry, millwork, and carpentry category. Clicking on the category will bring up a long list of projects, including “install window.”

How To Use Homewyse Cost Calculator (3 Methods)

Homewyse is a useful tool, not only for homeowners hoping to get a handle on repair and maintenance costs but for real estate professionals and investors who seek to reduce their errors in estimating costs for renovations of potential investment properties, improve their profit margins and create comprehensive proposals for outside investors.

Here are three key ways real estate professionals can use Homewyse data:

Calculating The MAO

Real estate professionals need to learn how much they should pay for an investment property and can make use of Homewyse to determine a Maximum Allowable Offer or MAO.

An MAO represents the absolute maximum you should spend on a property you may purchase, based on a budget that includes the cost of any necessary renovation. This is a calculation that can often be difficult to determine, especially for those new to investing. But Homewyse offers a good way to get a handle on the right numbers.

To use Homewyse to calculate MAO, begin with determining the After Repair Value or ARV. In other words, what do you think you could receive for the sale of the property once it has been renovated and made market-ready?

The next step is to calculate your expenses, including repairs, and subtract this total from the ARV. While repairs will make up the bulk of your expenses, you will also want to subtract other costs, such as real estate commissions, closing costs, and your holding costs.

After totaling your expenses, determine your desired return on your investment. Add this number to your expenses and subtract the total from the ARV. If you’re a wholesaler, you’ll want to subtract profit and your wholesale fee.

Using Homewyse to your advantage, you can help to reduce any errors in your estimates and improve your profit margins or ability to attract outside investors.

Estimating Rehab Costs

Rehab jobs are entirely different from simple repairs and maintenance. More extensive, rehab projects also often need to pass certain inspections or otherwise meet regulatory requirements. For real estate investors, the cost of a rehab project is key to determining whether or not a property is a wise purchase or not.

Estimating rehab costs accurately can mean the difference between making a profit or shouldering a loss. Unless you serve as your own contractor, Homewyse can be used to find a qualified professional because you will have accurate estimates of what you can expect the rehab, repair or landscaping project to cost.

Begin by choosing the Maintenance tab at the top of the Homewyse website. Then choose Projects. Next, choose from Home Modifications, Kitchen Remodeling or Bathroom Remodeling. For this example, let’s say you choose Bathroom Remodeling. You will see a long list of potential bathroom remodeling projects. Let’s say you choose Typical Bathroom Remodeling.

You will then see a calculator open. The first thing you will need to do is enter your ZIP code in the upper right of the calculator. This is to ensure that the calculations are relevant to your area.

You will also notice near the bottom of the page that there are four adjustable sliders labeled Total Room Area, Material Quality, Labor Type, and Room Layout. Adjust these sliders until you feel you are accurately representing the project. Below the sliders, you will see another button, Project Options.

From this drop-down menu, you will be able to add various features that apply to your project, from “add bathroom sink” and “paint walls” to “pressure washing”.

Note that every one of these features is selected by default, so clicking on any one of them removes it from the project.

Once you’ve added all the features that apply to your project, close the window and then press update to ensure all of your adjustments have been included.

You’ll now see the estimates applicable to your project and geographical area that can help you determine whether a property is the right one to purchase. You can also this same calculator to evaluate bids you receive from general contractors.

Calculate Maintenance Costs

While it’s best avoided, there are times in real estate investing when a property is held longer than expected. Holding costs, including maintenance and repair expenses, can cut into profit margins. If you must hold onto a property, you can use Homewyse to get a handle on your maintenance costs as a part of the overall holding expense.

Start at the homepage of the Homewyse website and click on the Maintenance tab at the top, next to the Installation tab. The page that opens will offer a number of categories, from power washing to garage door services. Clicking on one of these categories will open a list of projects that fit within the category.

Simply choose the project that matches your needs and ensure you have the correct zip code to get an estimate.

Final Thoughts About Homewyse

There are a number of Homewyse reviews shared in online forums, some favorable and some unfavorable. The unfavorable reviews primarily complain that the estimates are too far off base.

No estimate is perfect; that’s why it’s called an “estimate.” But Homewyse offers a starting point in providing data for a long list of home improvement and renovation projects. While the best way to feel comfortable estimating home improvement projects is simply to dive in and get some experience, Homewyse can be a useful springboard, especially for real estate professionals new to investing.

There are a number of situations where real estate professionals need cost estimates for repairs, maintenance, and renovation. But it’s often a challenge to come up with the figures needed to determine value versus cost and estimate renovation projects or compare contractor bids.

It’s not surprising, then, that several platforms have sprung up as a means of creating and comparing cost estimates, including Homewyse.

However, few are as thorough as the Homewyse platform. Not only does it provide several calculators to fit your project needs, but the data is reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Homewyse offers a good option for plugging in numbers to get a project estimate or to provide numbers to outside investors for making decisions on potential investment properties.

Like any estimate, Homewyse is not going to be completely accurate 100 percent of the time. However, it offers a solid benchmark for a wide variety of home improvement and renovation costs and can serve as a useful tool for real estate professionals.

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