Build the rehab budget

The budget is the plan the rest of the house is measured against. Each line has a budget amount, what's been spent against it, and what's left. The lines add up to the Budget number at the top of every page of the house.

Start the budget

1. 1Step 1: Open Budget under Money. On a phone it is the Budget tab at the bottom.
2. 2Step 2: Choose Start from template. You get one blank line for each category: Trash-out/Demo, Roofing, Plumbing, Electrical, Kitchen, and so on.
3. 3Step 3: Type an amount in a line's Budget amount box and press Enter. Carry on down the list.

No amounts are filled in for you. Costs vary too much by market for a template number to be worth having.

Price a line by quantity

1. 1Step 1: On the line, choose Details.
2. 2Step 2: Fill in Quantity, Unit, and Unit cost. The budget amount works itself out: 1,180 sq ft of flooring at $3.00 is $3,540.00.
3. 3Step 3: Choose Save on the row.

If you later type over the amount, Use qty × cost appears under Unit cost to switch back.

Add lines

• Add line adds one by hand. Pick a Category and write a Description. Room is optional and groups the line with that room's photos and walkthrough notes.
• Add from catalog adds a material you buy often: pick the Catalog item, type the Qty, and choose Add to budget. The panel stays open so you can add the next one.

The Material catalog at the bottom of the page holds your usual materials and what you pay. It starts with a few rows marked Placeholder price; change those to your real prices. Adding an item copies today's price onto the house, so later catalog changes don't touch budgets you've already built. Owners and admins edit the catalog.

Contingency

Contingency is a percent held in reserve on top of the lines. The example house has $66,600 of lines and a 10% contingency of $6,660, so its Budget is $73,260.

You set the percent on the house, not on this page: open the house's Home, choose Edit property, and change Contingency %. The foot of the budget shows Planned, Contingency, and Grand total.

Read a line

Each line is drawn as a tape measure. The blade is the budget, the pencil mark is what's been spent, and spending past the budget runs off the end in red.

• Left shows the dollars remaining on the line.
• When a line goes over, it shows the amount over in red and the percent, such as “7.8% over budget.”
• On a phone, each line reads “Spent $3,450 · $250 over” instead of showing separate columns.

Split labor and materials

In a line's Details, type the part you buy yourself in Materials. The rest of the line is labor. The Labor and materials box under the table then shows Materials planned and Labor planned.

You never tag an expense as labor or materials for this box. It goes by who was paid: an expense whose vendor is a contractor counts under Paid to contractors, and everything else is Stores and other.

Cut or delete a line

• To drop work from the plan but keep the record, open Details and set Status to Cut. The line is struck through and leaves every total.
• Delete removes the line. A line with a change order can't be deleted.

Holding costs

Holding Costs has its own subtotal and is marked “Not included in the planned total.” Taxes, insurance, utilities, and loan interest belong to the hold, not the rehab. How the numbers work explains where they count.

Save it for next time

Save as template keeps every line and amount (not the cut ones) so your next house can start from what this one cost. Owners and admins can save templates; see Templates and settings.