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Cost estimator

What does getting a house ready actually cost?

No email gate, no form before the answer. Move the slider and you get a range — alongside the number almost nobody shows you: what it costs to skip the work and settle it at the negotiating table instead.

Heated square footage
1,800 SQ FT
What does it need?

Full interior repaint, flooring, fixtures, punch list and clean.

What kind of shape is it in?

Estimated range

$8,300 – $14,000

Market ready · 1,800 sq ft · Lived in

Prep work, done up front—
One price cut + a typical concession—

A planning range built from square footage and scope — not a quote, and not a substitute for walking the house. Comparison figures use a 3.5% first price reduction and a 1.5% concession against Austin metro benchmarks. The walkthrough and the real itemised number are free.

How the numbers work

Where these figures come from

This estimator is a transparent model, not a black box. It multiplies heated square footage by a cost-per-foot band for the scope you pick, then adjusts for condition. That is genuinely how most of this work is priced before anyone walks the property.

The comparison bar uses Austin metro benchmarks: a first price reduction of about 3.5% and a seller concession of about 1.5% of sale price — the mid-point of the 1–2% range now appearing on roughly 40% of closings. Both figures are conservative on purpose.

What moves the number most

  • Condition, not location. A long-owner home in a modest ZIP frequently costs more to prepare than a well-kept house in an expensive one.
  • Flooring square footage. It is usually the single largest line on a make-ready.
  • Whether cabinets can be refinished. Refinishing rather than replacing is routinely a fraction of the cost and takes days instead of months.
  • Trades that require a licence. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC items carry different rates from cosmetic work.

What this estimator cannot see

Foundation movement, drainage, roof condition, hidden water damage, septic and well systems, and anything behind a wall. Those are exactly the items that turn up on inspection reports, and they are the reason the walkthrough exists and is free.

For most Austin homes a cosmetic light prep runs a few thousand dollars, a full market-ready turn on a typical 1,800 sq ft house lands in the five figures, and a showcase-level prep with cabinet refinishing and lighting upgrades runs higher again. Square footage, condition and scope move the number far more than neighbourhood does.

No. It is a planning range built from square footage, scope and condition. A quote requires walking the house — that walkthrough is free, takes under an hour, and produces an itemised number you can cut lines from.

Because that is the real decision a seller faces. Roughly 37% of active Austin listings have already taken a price reduction and about 40% of closings include a concession. Money not spent on prep is very often spent later at the negotiating table, with less control over how much.

Inspection lists are priced against the actual report rather than by square foot, because a twenty-item list of minor code items and a twenty-item list with foundation and drainage work are nothing alike. Email the PDF and we will return an itemised quote within 48 hours.

It depends far more on square footage and scope than on neighbourhood. A cosmetic turn on a small condo and a full pre-listing make-ready on a long-owner home are different orders of magnitude, which is why we built a cost estimator on this site rather than publishing a single number that would be wrong for most houses.

Most make-ready and inspection-repair projects begin within a week of an approved quote. Smaller punch lists can often start the same week you call.

Yes. Home Ready TX carries general liability insurance, and licensed trades handle every plumbing, electrical and HVAC item that requires a licence under Texas law.

From range to number

Now get the itemised version.

A range tells you whether to keep reading. An itemised quote tells you what to do. The walkthrough that produces it is free and takes under an hour.

Free walkthrough, free itemised quote, no obligation. We reply within one business day — usually the same one.

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