Hacking 102: How is Hacking Cost Calculated?

Hacking is one of the trades where homeowners feel that there is a lack of transparency.

Hacking sounds simple in theory - you just tear down walls and turn your house into a blank canvas. But prices tend to be lumped, and hefty, often reaching an amount of $8k-$10k.

Does the number sound right? So today we will share in detail how the cost is calculated by hackers.

TLDR - Don’t buy houses with a lot of built-ins, if you are planning to renovate the flat entirely

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1) Hacking usually starts with a base lump sum price for the “entire house”.

This price depends on the size of your house—like whether it’s a 3-room or 4-room flat. But here’s the kicker - the “entire house hacking” doesn’t mean literally everything in the house. What it actually means is:

• The entire kitchen (bye-bye, old cabinets and tiles)

• Two bathrooms (the one in your master bedroom and the common bathroom)

• The floor tiles in the living room

2) Thereafter, everything else is considered an ala-carte add-on.

Trust us, those add-ons can add up real quick.

Let’s say your house has one of those fancy cornices that’s common in older resale flats. If you want that gone, that’s an extra $400 right there.

And it doesn’t stop there. Here are some other common things:

• Doors and door frames

• Random walls

• Any existing carpentry (like built-in wardrobes or shelves)

Remember the last point, any existing carpentry.

Meaning, if you purchase a house with a lot of built-in cabinets, and plan to refurbish it entirely, for each carpentry built and dismantled, you will have to pay a $200-$300 fee. This adds up quickly.

This is the absolute key of this article.

If you’re scrolling through PropertyGuru and see a house with a lot of built-ins, brace yourself. The hacking costs for that place? Confirm gonna make you cry.

All those built-in cabinets, random walls, and decorative features might look nice in the listing photos, but they’ll cost you a pretty penny to remove.

So before you fall in love with a house, take a good, hard look at what’s already there. Ask yourself:

• How much of this do I actually need to hack away?

• Are there a ton of built-ins that’ll cost extra to remove?

• Can I work around some of these features to save money?

By knowing what to expect, you can avoid blowing your budget on hacking costs and save that money for something more exciting—like that dream kitchen or fancy bathroom you’ve been pinning on Pinterest.

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