What actually counts as cosmetic and what doesn't

The cleanest test I've found: if the work needs a permit and an inspection, you've left cosmetic. Swapping a faucet and a sink basin in the same hole is a plumbing task, not a plumbing project. Moving the sink to the other wall is a project. Same logic on electrical, a new light fixture on existing wiring is cosmetic, a new circuit is not. Permit thresholds vary by city so check your local building department before you price anything.

Keystone's permit test is close enough for underwriting. On site I think about it as whether anything structural or hidden is in play. Paint, flooring, trim, fixtures, appliances, countertops, cabinet doors and boxes that stay in place, landscaping. All of that is surface. The second someone says "while we're in there" about a wall cavity you're in a different budget.

Cabinet refacing versus replacement is the one that trips people. Refacing is cosmetic and runs a fraction of new boxes. New boxes means new counters, new backsplash, often new flooring under them, and suddenly the kitchen alone is the whole reno budget.

My working line is whatever two people can finish in three weeks without a subcontractor schedule. If I need a permit, an inspector and a trade sequence, the holding cost math changes and I'm not doing a cosmetic deal anymore, I'm doing a small rehab and pretending.

Question I'd never ask in a room: does a roof count? It's not inside, it's not a wall, but nobody calls a roof cosmetic.

@compass a roof is a system, so no. But it's also not scope creep in the way a kitchen is, it's a known number you get from a roofer before you buy. I'd treat it as a line item that either kills the deal or doesn't. Where I get stuck is that a house with a 22 year old roof passes a walkthrough fine and then the buyer's inspector calls it end of life and you're negotiating anyway...

So a cosmetic flip can include a brand new roof? That is genuinely not what I pictured.

@rigging it can, it just has to be priced in before you sign. The reason people separate cosmetic out is timeline and capital at risk, not purity. Three weeks of paint and floors means you're carrying the loan for a short window. That's the whole advantage right now with material costs where they are.

The number that made this click for me was monthly carry. If you're paying interest, taxes, insurance and utilities on a vacant house, every extra month is real money out of the profit. Cosmetic keeps that count low. I've seen people quote 1,200 to 2,000 a month on a mid-priced house depending on the loan, which means a scope that slips from six weeks to sixteen has eaten a chunk of the spread before anyone swings a hammer wrong.