Poll: Inspecting Your properties

[Lyndsey Keller]

Once you have a tenant in place:

How often do you do inspections?

Do you include inspection info in your lease agreement?

How do tenants handle an inspections?

What exactly do you look for?

How do you bring attention to anything that is wrong/worrisome?

[Roy N.]

Originally posted by Lyndsey Keller:

Once you have a tenant in place:

How often do you do inspections?

In our lease, we reserve the right to inspect the property quarterly. In reality, we visit some tenants/properties more than others. As a minimum, we visit all units annually. Most we visit semi-annually and certain ones (student rentals; where a major renovation was just completed) quarterly.

Yes.

Typically, we provide the tenant with a weeks notice and encourage them to be present and bring their list of issues or suggestions for improvement.

We look for signs of water damage (leaky fixtures, etc); broken, malfunctioning cabinetry, windows, and doors; we check all lights, spot check outlets; We test the HVAC and, where applicable, change the filter. We inspect all appliances to ensure the are in good working order and are being maintained in accordance with the house rules. We also test the smoke, carbon monoxide detectors and we applicable change the backup batteries. If the building has a fire alarm and/or sprinkler system it is inspected/tested once per year by the office of the fire marshal.

Personally, I have a reputation for being a little {too} blunt, so I tend to point out things that need to be changed (either by the tenant or ourselves) on the spot. I then follow-on with a letter after the inspection.