How to Estimate Refurb Costs with Bailie.ai Before You Bid
Open Deal Analyser, put in the address and price, then click Estimate refurb. The chat already has the lot. You add condition. It returns a line-item works budget with assumptions you can check against a quote.
Inside Deal Analyser
First-pass budget
This is an allowance, not a contractor quote
The chat prices the works from the address, the purchase price and what you tell it about condition. Hidden defects stay hidden. Match every line to a written quote before you bid.
One live run on a Liverpool mid-terrace
Ruskin Way, Liverpool. Purchase £145,000. Rent £950 a month. Three-bed terrace, about 85 square metres, dated kitchen and bathroom, old boiler, tired decor. Run on 13 October 2026.
- £17,825
- Suggested budget, including 15% contingency
- £15,500
- Works subtotal before contingency
- 3 to 5 weeks
- Overall works window, with overlapping trades
- 7 lines
- Kitchen, bathroom, boiler, electrics, decor, carpets, waste
What the estimate is for
Yield on a tired terrace is fiction until the works are priced. The deal model already has purchase and rent. The missing number is the cash you still have to spend before a lender or a tenant will take it.
Estimate refurb with Bailie.ai sits on the Deal Analyser result. It does not open a blank chat. The address and the £145,000 price are already in the thread. You add condition, finish and known defects.
How to run the estimate
Four steps. The whole pass on this lot took a few minutes once the analysis had landed.
From address to works budget
What the Liverpool terrace came back with
The description was a three-bed mid-terrace, about 85 square metres, built around 1900. Dated kitchen and bathroom, old boiler, tired decor and carpets. No layout changes.
The model treated that as a cosmetic-to-moderate refresh and priced a budget kitchen and bathroom, a boiler swap, limited electrical updates, decorating and carpets. Suggested budget £17,825, including 15% contingency. Overall window about 3 to 5 weeks.
Itemised allowance, 13 October 2026
Indicative Liverpool allowances from the live run. VAT treatment depends on the contractor. Confirm each quote.
| Work | Allowance | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen replacement, including fitting | £4,500 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Bathroom replacement, including fitting | £3,500 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Boiler replacement | £2,500 | 1 to 2 days |
| Electrical updates, not a full rewire | £1,000 | 2 to 4 days |
| Decorating throughout | £2,200 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Carpets throughout | £1,200 | 1 to 2 days |
| Waste removal and making-good | £600 | 1 to 2 days |
| Works subtotal | £15,500 | |
| Contingency, 15% | £2,325 | |
| Suggested budget | £17,825 | 3 to 5 weeks overall |
Trades can overlap, so the line durations do not add to 5 weeks. The estimate excluded major damp treatment, structural repairs, roof or window replacement, asbestos, a full rewire and planning fees.
What to check before you bid
Use the estimate to size cash and time, then test it. A first-pass budget that you never quote-check is just a hopeful yield.
- Does the kitchen and bathroom stay on the current layout?
- Can the boiler reuse the existing flue and pipework?
- Is electrical work an update, or a rewire?
- Is 15% contingency enough for a house built around 1900?
- Have you matched each line to a written quote?
When the quote lands, check the AI lines against the contractor before you treat the deal as funded.
Price the works on the deal you just modelled
Open Deal Analyser, run the lot, then price the works in the same thread. Keep the yield and the works budget on the same page.