Buying a Property to Renovate

Turn inspiration into a defined brief

Write a room-by-room list of the changes you need and separate essentials from optional improvements. Include accessibility, ventilation, heating, cooling and storage, rather than considering finishes alone. Give that brief to a qualified technical professional before relying on a builder’s informal price. Ask what can be assessed during a first visit and which decisions depend on plans, measurements, structural investigation or municipal information.

Confirm permissions before costing the dream

Works in existing buildings may engage the Technical Building Code as well as regional and municipal procedures. Ask what project documents, licences or declarations apply to your intervention. Check protected-building status and whether the work affects communal elements or requires community involvement. An existing terrace enclosure or converted garage is a separate question: establish its current documented status before including it in the space you expect to renovate.

Build a complete renovation budget

Request comparable written quotes based on the same scope. Separate construction, professional fees, permits, taxes, waste handling, fixtures and temporary accommodation. Include an allowance for uncertainties identified by the survey rather than applying an unexplained percentage. Ask how hidden defects, material substitutions and changes will be priced and approved. A low initial quote is hard to evaluate if demolition, electrical work or final certification is excluded.

• Identify items priced as provisional allowances.
• Agree stage payments and the evidence required for each stage.

Plan completion of the works

Discuss who supervises quality and checks progress, how defects are recorded and which documents you will receive at the end. Ask whether the completed works require updates to property records or occupancy documents. Keep dated photographs, plans, contracts and invoices. Before purchasing, compare the full acquisition-and-renovation cost with the money and time available; the desired finish date should allow for permissions and unexpected findings.