How Estimara estimates rehab costs from photos

Estimara is an AI rehab cost estimator for real estate investors. Here is exactly what goes in, what comes out, and what it deliberately leaves out of the total.

Last updated 2026-10-13

1. Add photos, video or bid documents

Upload up to 20 photos per analysis, or a walkthrough video. You can also attach PDF documents such as contractor bids or inspection reports. Photograph each room, the exterior, and the systems you can reach: furnace, water heater, electrical panel and roof. Estimara can only price what it can see, so clearer coverage gives a tighter estimate.

2. Choose what you are renovating for

The same house costs very different amounts depending on the goal, so Estimara asks for one before it prices anything:

• Rental ready. Safe, functional, clean and durable. Keep serviceable finishes.
• Light refresh. Necessary repairs plus targeted cosmetic improvements.
• Resale ready. Market appropriate updates for selling the property.
• Premium renovation. Higher end finishes within your photographed and requested scope.

You also set the property's current condition, who is doing the work (yourself, a handyman, a general contractor, or a mix), and any notes the photos miss, such as a roof replaced last year. Labor choice changes the price because general contractor rates are higher than handyman rates.

3. Estimara reviews every photo and prices the repairs

An analysis usually takes a few minutes. Estimara looks at each photo, identifies what is worn, damaged or missing, and prices the repair using estimated local labor and material costs for the property's market. Work is grouped by room, and every repair shows what it includes and what it leaves out.

4. What you get back

• A repair list by room. Each repair has a planning number, a low to high range, and a severity label of Minor, Moderate or Major.
• A total with uncertainty bounds, so you can see a lower, planning and upper figure instead of one falsely precise number.
• Potential hidden risks. Problems seen in the photos that cannot be priced yet (a stained garage roof, a furnace of unknown age) and risks that might exist but were not seen (electrical panel condition, basement bedroom egress). These are listed with the next step, such as an inspection. They are not added to the total, because guessing a price would make the total look more certain than it is.
• A reliability rating. "How solid is this estimate?" reads Solid, Fair or Rough and says why, for example when most quantities are AI estimates rather than measurements.

5. Deal math, if you want it

Add an after repair value (ARV), a purchase price, and holding and selling costs, and Estimara works out the numbers for your strategy. For wholesalers it calculates the maximum allowable offer using the 70% rule: ARV times 70%, minus repairs and your assignment fee (try the free MAO calculator). For flippers it estimates profit and return, and for buy and hold investors it estimates rental returns. When the estimate is partial because something could not be priced, Estimara holds back the offer figure rather than presenting a confident number that ignores a known problem.

What Estimara does not do

• It is not a contractor quote or an inspection. Prices are model estimates of local costs and are unverified until a contractor confirms them.
• It cannot see inside walls, under floors or above ceilings. Those risks appear as hidden risks, not as priced repairs.
• It does not invent work for rooms you did not photograph.

For the labor side of local pricing, see the rehab labor cost index, built from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. Common questions are answered in the FAQ, and plan details are on the pricing page.