Okay, so you've found a great fixer-upper you want to buy as a second home, or a rental property, or to flip and make a nice little profit. Unless you plan on doing most of the work yourself (and make sure you have the time and skills to perform the necessary repairs and upgrades), you're going to need hire the services of a residential general contractor.

This is also an important step in formulating your final offer on the home or property. Once you've had the home inspected, and you'd identified all the work that needs to be done, you can take the inspection report to a general contractor. Most contractors will review the report, along with any notes or photos that you have, to get a rough idea of what the project will entail. You'll also want the contractor to walk through the house itself to get a firsthand look at what's involved.

Once the contractor has gathered all the information, and taken a walk through the property, he or she can then formulate a detailed cost estimate. This becomes the basis for your revised budget, and the final offer you'll be making to the seller.

These days, most general contractors offer free estimates to get your business. Bear in mind, however, if they get a sense that you plan on doing most or all of the work yourself, they won't be too keen on giving their time and effort away for free. One option here is to offer to compensate the contractor for his or her time, which is only fair under the circumstances.

Once you have the home inspection report, and the cost estimate from the general contractor, you can get an overall view of exactly what's involved in the project, and how much it will cost to complete. Armed with this knowledge, you can judge whether or not your original purchase offer price was justified. If the work and cost involved in fixing the property is greater that you originally thought, you can ask to renegotiate the price with the seller, or ask that the seller pay for some of the repairs themselves.