There’s really no way to overstate the importance of property inspections, especially when you consider that it has a direct bearing on tenant retention, and on ensuring the long-term upkeep of your property. A good property inspection will include valuable information on any damages which have occurred, as well as the property’s functional reliability.
This will allow a property owner to save time on paperwork and save money on repairs since any problems will be caught in the early stages. It is definitely in the best interest of any property owner to have regular property inspections take place, either by your own arrangement or through a property manager whom you have hired.
Types of inspections
An incoming inspection is generally performed after purchase of a property, so that a prospective owner can determine whether or not the property is in good condition, and find out what type of repairs may be needed. This is a very important inspection for both landlord and tenant, since it will identify any existing issues, which presumably would be handled promptly.
An outgoing inspection would be performed as a tenant evacuates the premises, after which a full inventory is taken as well as a thorough assessment of the property condition. Results of this inspection would be compared to the inspection done during incoming, so as to determine if more than normal deterioration has taken place. While routine inspections may seem desirable to a property owner, such inspections are not allowable under the law unless the tenant is given prior notice, or if a state of emergency exists.
Benefits provided by property inspections
A property owner cannot really rely on tenants to report all damages, especially in the event that the tenant actually caused the damage. That’s one reason why annual property inspections are so important, because it’s very important to find out the true condition of the property. Having produced good records from every property inspection, landlords will find it much easier to maintain the property and keep everything in good working order. Not only is this a benefit to the landlord, but it will ensure the safety of tenants as well, so that the interests of both are well served.
There is another benefit to conducting regular property inspections, which relates to insurance covering the property. Any landlord who fails to carry out regular inspections of the property could be subject to losing their insurance coverage. If you have a property manager overseeing this for you, you shouldn’t have to worry about carrying out the necessary inspections. However, if you don’t have a property manager who takes care of this for you, it will definitely be to your advantage to make sure that annual property inspections are carried out thoroughly.
Property inspection methods
For any single-property types of inspections, the manual method of inspecting is still performed most frequently. This involves simply walking around the premises with a clipboard and a digital camera, and taking photos and notes of everything which is encountered. Afterward, all this information is downloaded to a central location where it can be reviewed and assessed.
There are also some mobile apps available nowadays which can make the process more efficient and smoother. Apps like this help with taking photos, scheduling inspections of various units, and printing off reports whenever they’re needed. Property owners who own several different properties generally prefer to use the digital method of property inspections, because the software makes it much easier to consolidate information and to determine overall status at a glance.