If you are thinking about purchasing a dilapidated house and renovating it, it's important to get a buildings inspection report carried out before you buy the property. Here are two reasons why you should do this.

It will enable you to accurately assess the cost of the renovation work

Before you purchase a 'fixer-upper', it is important to accurately assess how much it will cost to renovate the property.

Having a building inspection report performed can go a long way towards helping you draw up a realistic renovation budget, as this report will provide crucial information about things such as the condition of the building's framework, roof, insulation and flooring.

This, in turn, will enable you to determine what type of work needs to be carried out on the house and what kind of building materials you will need to purchase.

If you decide not to have a buildings inspection report carried out and instead attempt to evaluate the condition of the property by yourself, there is a very good chance that the estimates you draw up for the renovation project will be highly inaccurate, as dilapidated properties often have hidden defects that are almost impossible for an untrained individual to spot.

This, in turn, could result in you going over budget to such an extent that you either have to take out an extra loan to cover the additional renovation costs or have to sell the half-finished property, because you cannot afford to continue renovating it.

It could prevent you from making a bad investment

If a property has developed a severe problem which will cost several thousand dollars to repair, it might not be worth purchasing, particularly if the expense of carrying out the repairs is close or equal to the value of the property itself.

Wet rot in the timber framework which is so severe that it has affected the structural integrity of the building, or extensive asbestos in the floors, walls and ceilings are two examples of issues which could be extremely expensive to fix.

A building inspection report could help you to avoid buying a property with these types of major problems. If, whilst evaluating the property, the building inspector comes across visible signs of asbestos or structural damage, they will then recommend that you seek out further advice from another specialist, such as a structural engineer or an asbestos surveyor, to confirm the presence of these issues.

This, in turn, will allow you to make an informed decision about whether or not buying that particular property is a wise financial decision.