home inspections Tag

3 Tips for Effective Rental Home Inspections

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 landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.   BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales (including Rent-To-Sell) for single-family homes, condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area.  Contact Us Today!

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Are Monthly Rental Home Inspections Desirable?

I was asked recently if our property management company provided monthly rental home inspections for houses under management. I assume what was meant was the kind of inspection where we go into the property, check everything out, eat dinner with the tenants, and then help any young children with their homework. Then we’d set a time to visit again the next month before hugging goodbye. Smiles would be all around.

This type of inspection would work if we were renting out the “Little House on the Prairie” and the harvest was plentiful that fall. But I’m not even sure how welcome we’d be if the rain wasn’t coming and Pa had to sell one of their prized cows to make ends meet. And I’m not sure how happy they would be to have another mouth to feed when we stopped by for our monthly inspection; we’d, of course, be slightly embarrassed that dinner conversation would focus on the eviction our clients, the Olsen’s, are ordering us to execute on them (“If rent isn’t paid, file for eviction on the Ingalls’s promptly on the 11th! No more famine excuses!”).

Unfortunately (and fortunately), modern life isn’t like this anymore. Tenants don’t want the property manager coming around; they’re busy and don’t want their property managers tied into their social life (usually).

However, rental home inspections are sometimes necessary. But how often should they be conducted? Let’s examine the pros and cons of a monthly visit:

Pros of monthly inspections:
1. Knowing what the tenants are up to
2. Lease violations would be quickly recognized and dealt with

Cons of monthly inspections:
1. Become a preferred rental vendor of the old KGB and Gestapo
2. Limited benefit for costs associated with frequent visits
3. Tenants will be hateful and not rent from you
4. Pushback from tenant privacy issues
5. Forced to deal with issues that arise- do you evict? Tough decisions and ultimatums have to be handed down, and then they need to be carried out.

More on #5. The “sometimes ignorance is bliss” is a tough one to explain. “I always want to know what is going on in my rental house!” Do you?

If violations are found, are you ready to evict? If the tenant is paying on time and in full every month, do you want your property manager looking for reasons to get rid of the tenants? Eviction is expensive! And when the tenants are being evicted, no one is paying the rent anymore. That’s a double whammy on costs.

Well, warnings could be issued. “If this happens one more time, then you’re out!” If there is evidence that it did happen the following month, you really do have to evict them now. If not, what is the purpose of these monthly inspections anyway? Inspections are not meant to paint the owners into a corner. At the end of the day, you want paying tenants to stay, right?

Inspections can be useful; some violations need to be dealt with immediately. However, even the Ingalls’s wouldn’t think it was rude if you stopped by on a much less regular basis!

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes. His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)