Landlords must carry out a variety of inspections as part of the rental property business. Although these arise at various times and for various reasons, the main objective is to secure the tenant, the landlord, and the property.
Furthermore, thorough inspections enable landlords to find maintenance problems before they escalate into urgent repairs and confirm that renters abide by the lease’s conditions.
Read further for more information on different types of inspections. Or call a Property Management company in Santa Monica or where you live to manage your property along with all the maintenance related work.
Types of Inspections for your Rental Property
Every landlord should perform the following types of inspections. Although it could take some time, securing your expensive investment will be well worth the effort.
In fact, by identifying problems early before they become significant ones, frequent inspections help owners save money. Here, we’ll look more closely at several inspection types.
- Pre-Leasing Inspection
- Move-In Inspections
- Move Out Inspections
- Routine and Seasonal Inspections
- Drive-by inspection
1. Pre-Leasing Inspections
A landlord’s first line of defense against such problems is pre-leasing inspections. Before marketing, these inspections are done to assess the property’s general condition. Owners often need a municipal inspection to get a rental license.
To save time and money, if you hire a Property Management company in Santa Monica or where you live, they may examine the apartment before these licensing inspections.
2. Move-In Inspections
It cannot be emphasized how important a thorough move-in inspection is to the renting process. When there is a change in landlords, these kinds of inspections take place. Before a new tenant moves in, they inspect the property alongside the landlord and note any existing problems.
Everything found needs to be properly noted on a room-by-room checklist. Utilizing video or pictures to document current difficulties further is also a fantastic option. The purpose of this is that the move-in inspection and the move-out inspection will subsequently be compared.
By comparing the two, landlords may see any damage that may go above and beyond normal wear and tear. Then, the landlord may decide to retain all or part of the security deposit.
3. Move Out Inspections
Move-in and move-out inspections are two frequent sorts of inspections that are extremely comparable. The objective is to ascertain the general state and assess if the evicting tenant inflicted any harm.
In general, conducting this walk-through with the renter is a good idea. They were assisting in preventing any misconceptions or disagreements over the retained security deposit.
Move-out reports need a thorough examination of every part of the property, just like you did with the move-in inspection. Additionally, it is essential to record any signs of damage using pictures or videos. Particularly if you intend to set any deposits elsewhere, this is true.
4. Routine and Seasonal Inspections
Most landlords know the need to perform property inspections as tenants move in and out. These are not the only checks that are useful to landlords, though. For instance, it is good to do routine inspections every six months, depending on the property’s age.
This inspection searches for potential maintenance issues, safety hazards, or lease infractions on the property’s interior and outside. It is good to schedule any proactive or seasonal repair such as an HVAC tune-up or gutter cleaning.
5. Drive-by inspection
On different days of the week, including weekends and holidays, a drive-by inspection is done to assess the outside of the property visually. Since you won’t be entering the property, unlike a typical inspection, a drive-by inspection does not call for prior notification to the renter.
You or your property manager can spot unusual objects by performing many drives-by. For instance, if a certain vehicle is consistently parked in the driveway, but its license plate isn’t shown on your renter application form, it may be the property of an unapproved roommate and call for the scheduling of a routine inspection.
A drive-by is that you could get to interact with the neighbors. Neighbors next door are a good possible source of details on your tenant’s behavior.
Conclusion
You can’t be everywhere at once as a landlord. Therefore, managing essential tasks like inspections when you own many properties is difficult. Fortunately, the Property Management company in Santa Monica is ready and equipped to help landlords manage their rental business’ everyday operations.
Real Property Management Choice provides a comprehensive, full-service property management solution for single-family rentals, multiplexes, and small apartment buildings. Visit our official website to learn more.
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