Checking in with a tenant-physical inspection required?

[Kristin Kerr]

Hi,

We are 6 months into renting out our condo to a young professional. We live several states apart due to a job change (hence why we are renting out our condo in the first place). I’m just curious if we should schedule a physical inspection when we are visiting family in the area later this month. 

Partly to change the furnace filter and stuff like that (show him where the water shut-off is to the outside faucet so the pipes don’t freeze over winter) but also make sure he hasn’t done any unauthorized work on the condo. 

The first few months we were hearing from him almost once a week about something he wanted to upgrade/replace and he wound up doing a few things without our permission (replaced a toilet without asking, replaced outlets in the bathrooms with asking). We sent him an email basically saying STOP (very nicely worded, but it got the point across) and we really haven’t heard from him since. 

I know there was a few other things in his “list” he had wanted to change and a part of me is worried he decided to stop asking and just did them. He had mentioned replacing the kitchen and bathroom faucets. 

I just want to make sure that he’s not doing a bunch of electrical or plumbing work on the condo that hasn’t been inspected by a licensed professional. It’s a 4-unit building so it’s not just his safety but also at least 3 other people that could be affected if something was wired wrong. 

We are three weeks out from our visit to family so we would be able to give plenty of heads up time about the inspection. 

[Todd Hart]

@Kristin Kerr Hey, Kristin. My question would be what’s the downside? You can always chalk it up to, “We were in town and just wanted to see how things are going.”

I typically give tenants a 24-hour notice, but that’s just out of courtesy. For your peace of mind and the other tenants, I think you should drop by. Bring warm cookies. ;)