What’s going on in my rental home and how does it look?
Typical Landlord Query
You do want to know, but you don’t want to know. It’s one of those paradoxes in life.
If you do want to know, it’s important to have some type of
methodology. Here are 3 tips to making
the most of your rental home inspections:
1. Spot checks
won’t lead to lease extensions. And,
in the South, they may get you shot.
Being that I usually don’t prefer it when people show up unexpectedly at
my door (even people I really like!), most tenants are not going to like it if
a property manager
shows up unannounced (they might not even like the property manager- I’ve heard
this happens sometimes…). Prior to
tenant move-in, let the tenants know what type of inspection schedule you are
likely to keep (annually, bi-annually, quarterly, monthly (gasp!)) so expectations
are set in advance. Don’t feel the need
to schedule the inspection when they have company in town; it can be a good
idea to give the tenants at least a week notice of your visit. And the tenants don’t need to be there, but
make sure they muzzle their pets. Don’t
undervalue injury-free inspections!
2. If you ask for
nothing, don’t be upset when you get it (and you usually will!). Smart property managers want the tenants to
know exactly what they plan to look at.
But isn’t that like giving students the answers to the test beforehand? Yes!!
Having the home in good condition is the desired test effect (even if they
have to cram for the test). We send them
the exact checklist we are going to fill out a week before we visit. This checklist lets them know we’re looking
out for unapproved animals, dirty air filters, smoke smells in the house,
cleanliness, lawn care, that our keys work, functional smoke & CO detectors
on each home level, and any other things that really stick out (we provide
ourselves a little latitude to comment on items not on our checklist). Then we snap 4+ pictures (no bedrooms) and
e-mail the filled-out checklist and pictures to the owner.
3. If no one is
keeping score, no one cares. Sharing
the inspection results with the tenants is paramount. They need to know that the property manager
is paying attention and cares how they treat and maintain the home. We send them the exact, filled-out checklist
we had used on their home. We let them
know what corrective actions need to be taken and ask them to get back to us
when they do correct any issues. However,
the first thing we do is compliment them on the items that are correct. We want the tenants to know we appreciate the
things they are doing right, prior to asking them to correct the items they
could be doing better.
In short, schedule courteously, announce beforehand what
will be inspected, share the results, and praise/correct accordingly. Rental home inspections, when thought out
well, can be a positive experience for both the property manager and tenant
(and the home itself!).
Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential
Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte
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