using contractors to estimate repair costs

[Pat McCandless]

I'm trying to nail down my 1st rental property and one of the things I need to do is get a good estimate on repair costs via a walk through of the property.  Since I've never done this before and don't have a construction background I would need a contractor to perform the walk through with me and quote me the total repair costs.  My question is, are there contractors out there willing to quote the cost of the job for free or do they always charge a fee?  I can picture myself walking through multiple properties and paying a decent chunk of change just to see if the property would fit the formula where the numbers work.  I'm doing this in the Connecticut area if that makes a difference or if anyone has any referrals.

Thanks!

[Wayne Brooks]

You're likely going to have to pay for the estimate, since contractors know that if you don't have the property under contract, they're not likely to get any work out of it, especially with you being new to this, and time is money for them too.  The whole "building a long term relationship, with a lot of work to come, blah blah blah...." rings pretty hollow from most.