How is your "Inspections" clause worded in your lease
Nathan HoltPro Member
Newark Ohio · Member since 2022 · 63 posts · 51 votesHow is your "Inspections" clause worded in your lease
Most Popular Reply
Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
3yQuote from @Nathan Holt:
Hmm...I'm not sure what Rene is saying.
Any good Landlord will inspect at least once a year. I've seen tenants that were really good for several years, then something changes in their life and they start destroying a place. Or they add a pet and don't know how to train it. Or their toddler turns into a 5-year-old boy with a permanent market. Here's mine:
RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION. Landlord has the right to enter the Premises for performing inspections inside and out, making repairs, alterations or improvements, in the case of an emergency, due to abandonment, or pursuant to a court order.
Except in cases of an emergency, Landlord shall give reasonable notice of intent to enter and the reason for entering. If you have animals, they must be crated, on a leash, or removed from the property during any visit by Landlord or his Agent. Visits may be recorded with video and/or photographs for office records. Landlord may place signage on the Premises or show the Premises to perspective renters or buyers during the last thirty (30) days of occupancy or any time the property is listed for sale.
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16 Replies
- Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2021 · 9k+ posts · 5k+ votes3y
I like the second one, keep it as straight forward as possible. There are ways to inspect the property without doing a official inspection. ie: termite and pest inspections
- Real Estate Coach · LandlordSkool.com · Member since 2017 · 110 posts · 88 votes3y
Are you trying to give yourself more work to do? No one gets into real estate investing to have less free time. There is already plenty of things that you have to do to ensure overall success. If you overengineer your lease to include a bunch of extra nuisance tasks that you have to do, and you fail to do all those tasks, it looks bad on you as the landlord.
To help prevent you from trying to implement every new idea, you must pass it through a well-defined filter. What do you want out of your real estate investing endeavors? Are you in this short-term or long-term? Is your goal to save every penny or are you in this for Real Freedom?
Once you really know what you want, then you can uncover a basic premise for the things you do/don't do. I follow the ABCs (just something I designed up): Automate, Balance, and Control. Everything I do must first pass my ABC filter.
If you really want to put that in your lease, here are some questions to ask yourself: How can you automate it? How do you ensure you have balance while keeping control (i.e. how do you oversee without having to actually do the work)? - Newark Ohio · Member since 2022 · 63 posts · 51 votes3y
Quote from @Rene G.:
Are you trying to give yourself more work to do? No one gets into real estate investing to have less free time. There is already plenty of things that you have to do to ensure overall success. If you overengineer your lease to include a bunch of extra nuisance tasks that you have to do, and you fail to do all those tasks, it looks bad on you as the landlord.
To help prevent you from trying to implement every new idea, you must pass it through a well-defined filter. What do you want out of your real estate investing endeavors? Are you in this short-term or long-term? Is your goal to save every penny or are you in this for Real Freedom?
Once you really know what you want, then you can uncover a basic premise for the things you do/don't do. I follow the ABCs (just something I designed up): Automate, Balance, and Control. Everything I do must first pass my ABC filter.
If you really want to put that in your lease, here are some questions to ask yourself: How can you automate it? How do you ensure you have balance while keeping control (i.e. how do you oversee without having to actually do the work)?Awesome advice, thank you!
I am trying to automate as much as possible, I thought doing 6 month inspections might help keep the properties in better shape and limit work and expenditures in the long run by catching problems early and taking care of them sooner. I've heard a lot of stories from landlords who didn't do that before and then found issues when the tenants moved out and decided it was worth it to start doing inspections.
I like the ABC filter I'm going to write that down.
Thanks!
- Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes3y
Quote from @Nathan Holt:
Hmm...I'm not sure what Rene is saying.
Any good Landlord will inspect at least once a year. I've seen tenants that were really good for several years, then something changes in their life and they start destroying a place. Or they add a pet and don't know how to train it. Or their toddler turns into a 5-year-old boy with a permanent market. Here's mine:
RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION. Landlord has the right to enter the Premises for performing inspections inside and out, making repairs, alterations or improvements, in the case of an emergency, due to abandonment, or pursuant to a court order.
Except in cases of an emergency, Landlord shall give reasonable notice of intent to enter and the reason for entering. If you have animals, they must be crated, on a leash, or removed from the property during any visit by Landlord or his Agent. Visits may be recorded with video and/or photographs for office records. Landlord may place signage on the Premises or show the Premises to perspective renters or buyers during the last thirty (30) days of occupancy or any time the property is listed for sale.The DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews - Investor & Agent · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes3y
I use the state standard lease from our real estate commission that has language for it, and that language coincides with state law / Oklahoma Landlord Tenant Act…. Id imagine your state has one available and accessible as well. Not saying adding your language is bad, but I am saying you might not have to reinvent the wheel, and use it to your advantage as you are able to quote your state law to your renters.
- Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes3y
Are you drafting the lease yourself? Unless you're a lawyer or having a lawyer write it up, that's not a good idea. You should use existing forms that are compliant with your state and local laws.
Most leases I have seen or read have a clause about the landlord's right of entry like @Nathan Gesner said.
My local lease says:
"Right of Access by Landlord. Tenant shall permit reasonable access to
Landlord, and any of Landlord’s invitees, agents, or contractors, in accordance with
local statues and ordinances, upon receiving 2 days’ notice by mail, telephone,
written notice or other means designed in good faith to provide notice. Landlord shall
have immediate access to the Premises in case of emergency and where repairs or
maintenance elsewhere in the building unexpectedly require such access. Landlord
shall give Tenant notice of such entry within two days after such entry." - 3yPatrick DruryBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Columbus, OH & Cleveland OH · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
@Nathan Holt
Unless you are an attorney you shouldn't be drafting leases. I know a lot of landlords in the Columbus area that just use replacing furnace filters every quarter or 6 months as a way to check in on the property. Just depends on how many units you have and how busy you are. - Real Estate Coach · LandlordSkool.com · Member since 2017 · 110 posts · 88 votes3y
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
Quote from @Nathan Holt:
Hmm...I'm not sure what Rene is saying.
Any good Landlord will inspect at least once a year. I've seen tenants that were really good for several years, then something changes in their life and they start destroying a place. Or they add a pet and don't know how to train it. Or their toddler turns into a 5-year-old boy with a permanent market. Here's mine:
RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION. Landlord has the right to enter the Premises for performing inspections inside and out, making repairs, alterations or improvements, in the case of an emergency, due to abandonment, or pursuant to a court order.
Except in cases of an emergency, Landlord shall give reasonable notice of intent to enter and the reason for entering. If you have animals, they must be crated, on a leash, or removed from the property during any visit by Landlord or his Agent. Visits may be recorded with video and/or photographs for office records. Landlord may place signage on the Premises or show the Premises to perspective renters or buyers during the last thirty (30) days of occupancy or any time the property is listed for sale.Natha G. I think you might have misunderstood my stance. Do you think I was suggesting that Nathan H. should not do inspections?
I know, it's standard to have a "RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION." section in every lease. I was challenging his thought process. Considering doing inspections every six months is overkill.For me, inspections are done at move-in or upon move-out or lease renewal... VIA an online electronic form that asks the tenants to upload photos per section/item that automatically saves to my business cloud and triggers an email to be sent out to the tenant and me. HENCE the ABCs I mention above.
Sure if you're an old-school landlord (or if you're being trained by an old-school landlord) and you want to spend your time driving to your rentals to do in-person inspections with tenants every six months go ahead. In my opinion that is a waste of time.
I guess the main point I'm trying to send home is too many landlords are working harder and not smarter... If their entire rental business is dependent on them alone, they are not really free. If they get hit by a bus everything will fall apart. But, that does not have to be the case. You have to be purposeful and design every aspect of your rental business to run with minimal input from you as the Landlord, so if something happens to you it can be easily maintained by your spouse, kids, or home office.
- Property Manager · Nationwide · Member since 2022 · 67 posts · 21 votes3y
Love the necessity for inspections and totally agree on it.
On our leases we just categorize it as "Right of Entry", giving the landlord permission to conduct necessary appointments at the property for what ever reason, with reasonable notice of course. This umbrella term can be useful for not only covering mandatory inspections but also other visits to ensure the safety of your property.
Heres what we have~
RIGHT OF ENTRY: The Landlord shall have the right to enter the Premises during normal working hours by providing notice in accordance with the minimum State requirement in order for inspection, make necessary repairs, alterations or improvements, to supply services as agreed or for any reasonable purpose. The Landlord may exhibit the Premises to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or lessees upon reasonable notice.
ACCESS BY LANDLORD: The Landlord must provide at least twelve (12) hours notice to the Tenant(s) before entering the Premises for any non-emergency reason.
- Rental Property Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2020 · 309 posts · 184 votes3y
@Nathan Holt As a few others as commented... be very cautious writing legal documents if you are not an attorney. I have a lease that my attorney wrote up for my use-- I don't use the state forms either.
It's not expensive in the overall scheme of things. And the lawyer shouldn't have to re-invent the wheel, just add what you'd like put in!
- Newark Ohio · Member since 2022 · 63 posts · 51 votes3y
Quote from @Lara White:
@Nathan Holt As a few others as commented... be very cautious writing legal documents if you are not an attorney. I have a lease that my attorney wrote up for my use-- I don't use the state forms either.
It's not expensive in the overall scheme of things. And the lawyer shouldn't have to re-invent the wheel, just add what you'd like put in!
ok, thank you! I do have access to an attorney for free through my job so I will be doing that
- Real Estate Coach · LandlordSkool.com · Member since 2017 · 110 posts · 88 votes3y
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
Quote from @Nathan Holt:
Hmm...I'm not sure what Rene is saying.
Any good Landlord will inspect at least once a year. I've seen tenants that were really good for several years, then something changes in their life and they start destroying a place. Or they add a pet and don't know how to train it. Or their toddler turns into a 5-year-old boy with a permanent market. Here's mine:
RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION. Landlord has the right to enter the Premises for performing inspections inside and out, making repairs, alterations or improvements, in the case of an emergency, due to abandonment, or pursuant to a court order.
Except in cases of an emergency, Landlord shall give reasonable notice of intent to enter and the reason for entering. If you have animals, they must be crated, on a leash, or removed from the property during any visit by Landlord or his Agent. Visits may be recorded with video and/or photographs for office records. Landlord may place signage on the Premises or show the Premises to perspective renters or buyers during the last thirty (30) days of occupancy or any time the property is listed for sale.Hey Nathan G, I've got some friendly proofreading feedback for ya. Under your RIGHT OF ENTRY AND INSPECTION section change "perspective renters" to "prospective renters."
- Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes3yThe DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews
- Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes3y
I see a lot of leases: the home made ones are by far the worst, not much better are often "attorney drafted", they look and sound more professional, but they are usually quite basic, the content is often not practical, over regulated in some parts and completely unregulated in others.
See if you can find a State specific lease form that has been around for a long time and is on version 27.4 and not 2.0 - every time a legal issue or dispute comes up, these old leases get modified and updated. It is like having the mutual life time experience of hundreds of investors baked into the lease.
In Milwaukee we have WLB - Wisconsin Legal Blanks, they sell all kinds of printed and pdf forms to land lords and property managers. The attorney who drafts and updates them has been the leading expert in Wisconsin for decades and he is also advises the State on new landlord tenant law, so he always knows what's new. And the forms are really cheap.
- Rental Property Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 694 votes3y
I’ll echo @Nate Sanow and @Nathan Gesner
1. Just make sure whatever you come up with is lawful.
2. we do right of entry. It allows us to enter when we need, but requires us to give proper notice (24 hours) to our tenants.When I first started out I thought that the paperwork needed to outline exactly what I’d do and how and when. But the issue with that is that you’re held to what you outline as much as your tenant is. It can lock you into doing things that aren’t the best use of your time or restrict you from doing what needs to be done. That’s why we’ve leaned more into language like Nathan mentioned. It allows you to do what you need, when you need to do it, but doesn’t lock you into anything unnecessary.
- Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes3yAloha,
We use a Standard Board of Realtors Rental Agreement which has typical Right of Entry language including "for inspections..." however, we also add to the "Special Terms" fill-in-the-blanks section "Tenant agrees to periodic inspections", and I let them know I perform a brief walk through to be sure they are taking care of things, but will be taking photos, checking under their sinks and other areas for possible leaks.
I doubt more than 10 or 15 percent of prospective tenants ACTUALLY read and comprehend any Rental Agreement...they just glance at them to confirm dates and amounts, then sign them and send them back to you, or scribble their signatures and pass them to you in an on site face-to-face meeting. For this reason, we require all adult occupants to meet at our office to review all of the Rental documents. I use a consistent format to talk about each document, pointing out "pain points" along the way, and ensuring they DO understand, in the moment, what our expectations are. Sure, they still "forget" about some of those issues, but when I remind them of the fact it was specifically discussed, and they signed the agreement at that time, most "remember" the meeting and grudgingly agree.
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