Building Inspection and Due Diligence Cost Calculator

This calculator totals the pre-purchase due diligence costs for a New Zealand home, so you can budget properly for the checks that protect one of the largest purchases you will ever make. It is tempting to skip these costs to save a few hundred dollars, but the checks routinely uncover problems worth tens or even hundreds of thousands, from hidden weathertightness and structural issues to title surprises, and they give you grounds to renegotiate the price or walk away before you are committed. You enter what each piece of due diligence will cost, and the calculator adds them into a single budget. The usual items are a pre-purchase builder's report to assess the condition of the building, a LIM report from the council showing what it knows about the property, a registered valuation, a methamphetamine test where there is any doubt, drainage or CCTV checks for older homes, and your lawyer's review of the title, the contract and any body corporate or covenant documents. Not every property needs every check, so set any you do not need to zero. Spending a few thousand dollars here is cheap insurance against a costly mistake, and most buyers consider it the best money they spend in the whole process. Adjust the figures to match local quotes.

Set any check you do not need to zero. Costs vary by property and provider; get local quotes. Estimate only.