Checking in on rentals

[Thomas Giganti]

How often do you check in and inspect your rental properties? I know you have to give your tenant enough notice per what's outlined in the lease but wanted to get feedback from the community of landlords on how often the check their investment?

[Account Closed]

We only did inspections every 6 months.  Any more than that, and tenants really feel invaded.  We gave 48 hours notice at least and said it was to test the smoke detector batteries and look for any plumbing leaks.

This was in a building with 26 units.  So, we'd (the owner and I as resident manager) would show up with batteries and a clip board and quickly check the batteries, look under sinks, check to see if the toilet was running (they really increase the water bill), ask if there were any other maintenance issues they wanted looked at, then out the door we went.

You really need to think about how you'd feel as the tenant.  Tenants have options.  If you want to act like some kind of control freak tyrant, you'll lose good tenants.

If you want to minimize tenant problems, do good tenant screening before they move in.  And then, only do month to month rental agreements, so you can kick them out without much fuss, if they end up being a problem - or get involved with some kind of wacko boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.