How do I estimate how much work a property will need?

[Justin H.]

I'm brand new to this looking to buy a first property. My question is, how do you go about estimating expenses to bring a house up to standard when you have no expertise? I have no construction experience. I've never worked with a contractor. Etc, etc.

I watched the Bigger Pockets webinar yesterday and he talked about analyzing dozens of deals in your area before making a purchase. Some of these properties are presumably almost totally ready to go (but again, how am I qualified to know that?), but for the others that need a non-zero amount of work, how can I even begin to analyze it before I see the property and get a reliable estimate of how much investment it needs?