Is it OK to Visit My Rental Properties if I Have a Property Manager? I’m Sort of Curious To See Them…
Answer: Yes! We live in the United State of America. If you’re the owner, you are always welcome to visit your properties. This right is usually written into the lease as well.
This is a very short answer (and makes for a very short blog)…
For a longer discussion… the question could be whether it is advantageous for owners to visit their properties if they have a property management company managing them already.
Let’s look at 3 scenarios of an owner rental home visit. Keep in mind (especially after COVID), at least one of the tenants will probably be home at some point during the home inspection:
Scenario #1 (Happy Time):
Owner knocks on the door. Tenant enthusiastically answers and there is a warm greeting. They tour the home together.
Owner: “My, you keep my home up beautifully! How did you get the cracks so clean between the countertop and backsplash?
Tenant: “Oh, it was a trick my mother taught me- gently scrub a paste of baking soda mixed with lemon juice in with a toothbrush.”
Owner: “Splendid! And thank you for always paying early!”
Tenant: “You’re welcome! Have you met my 4-year old daughter, Ivory? Honey, come say ‘hi’ to our landlord!”
Owner: “She’s so cute!”
Tenant: “Thank you! Can I get your number if I have an emergency and can’t get in touch with the management company? They’re sort of slow sometimes.”
Owner: “Sure!”
Upside: Owner has firsthand knowledge of the property and a budding friendship?
Downside: It might be necessary to evict the tenant and her young daughter. A personal connection makes this tougher. The tenant now has an influential third-party to go to when the property manager’s answers are not to the tenant’s liking (the old “Go to Mom when Dad says ‘no’” trick).
Scenario #2 (Unhappy Time):
Owner knocks on the door- no one answers. Owner keys into the property. Family is eating dinner. Tenant has been late on the rent. The home is really messy and not maintained. Owner speaks to the tenant. Tenant had a tough day at work and complains about repair issues with the house. An unhappy conversation ensues. No one is happy when the owner leaves.
Upside: Owner has firsthand knowledge of the property
Downside: The relationship with the tenant is potentially complicated. There are negative feelings on both sides that may lead to sub-optimal choices that erode the relationship further.
Scenario #3: (Normal Time):
Owner knocks on the door- no one answers. Owner keys in and no one is home. Owner walks through, inspects all the rooms, and takes a few notes. Owner is preparing to leave and the tenant arrives home with her daughter from basketball practice. Owner and tenant cordially greet each other and then each continue along with what they were doing. Owner leaves.
Upside: Owner has firsthand knowledge of the property
Downside: None
As a property manager, our goal is to maximize our owner client’s investment; a large part of that is creating a drama-less relationship where rent is paid, the home is maintained, and needed repairs are done. We want to create an environment where tenants want to extend their leases and have no landlord-related reasons on why they wouldn’t. They are free to enjoy their rental home and live their lives. If at some point we need to file for eviction, the decision is based more on a business case as opposed to any emotion either way.
It’s a boringly successful relationship for all parties. Ran correctly, it’s a beautifully benign operation.
And it is entirely possible that an owner visit would not affect the tenant relationship at all!
But… going back to whether owner property visits are actually advantageous, we still don’t recommend them as the safest move seems to let things be. It doesn’t seem wise to add any potential disruption of this boring relationship when there is no tangible upside.
Owners are always welcome to visit their rental properties for any reason, including curiosity! There just seems little to be gained and much to be potentially lost. Why take an unnecessary risk?
Happy Landlording!
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Santa’s Influence & Rental Home Inspections: Naughty or Nice?
He’s making a list
He’s checking it twice
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
(“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie)
Oh, Santa Claus! He’s the mythical man who causes such delight and fear in the hearts of children (and some misinformed adults). He can be a best friend who showers good kids with gifts, or a cold, disapproving, gift-withholding coal-dispenser.
Parents have long used Santa’s inexplicable worldwide influence to ply good behavior from their children, especially in the month of December. There are several proven manipulations:
1. Santa the Spook: He’s watching you… all the time… his values are perfectly aligned with your parents… you could blow this Christmas big-time if there are any incidents… he sees all- yup, even that…
2. Santa the Bully: Do you want to get any presents??? Do you??? Then you better be good! Do you think Santa is playing? He’s been doing this forever and knows payback better than anyone. Do you feel lucky, punk??? Don’t try Saint Nick …
3. Santa the Eager Rewarder: Santa loves you- he really does. He wants to get you those Legos… but if you take the screws out of your sister’s bed, how is he going to justify giving you the galactic mother ship when Mrs. Claus asks? Even the reindeers would revolt if you were rewarded for that behavior. Just make it easy, be good, and let the Lego ship will fly down your chimney on Christmas Eve…
The Santa illustration can be carried over to our bi-annual home inspections. For clarity purposes, our rental home inspections include an on-site visit of approximately 10 minutes where we have a checklist of things to look at (air filters, smoke/CO detectors, pets, smoking, etc.) and we take some pictures of the interior and exterior. And, yes, we check our list twice.
The question is: “Are home inspections naughty or nice?”
As a property manager, I initially wasn’t a huge fan of conducting home inspections and had them on the “naughty” list. I figured the tenants were going to be staying in the home largely regardless of what we saw (short of some major discovery at the home) for their lease duration, so I wasn’t sure what we were trying to accomplish. Badgering tenants into compliance also seemed to be a loser’s battle. And, to boot, tenants did not like the home inspections either and would gripe. The whole thing seemed like a waste of time and resources to me.
But we did them anyway. As time went on and we had years of home inspections under our belts, visiting the homes twice a year proved to be really beneficial! At first take, there were some smaller, auxiliary benefits for our owner clients. We were able to catch some repairs early and head off some more major issues. We had a good idea of what a home was going to look like after the tenants moved out. We could eyeball certain tenant complaints in person and see if they had merit. We built better personal relationships with some of the longer term tenants we would visit. And we elongated the life of HVAC units as we made sure the air filters were changed regularly.
But the largest benefit was that we got the homes back in better shape. And I would attribute that to the “Santa” influence effect. If people think someone cares and is actually checking, people tend to put more thought and time into their efforts. Home inspections are a good reminder that the landlord cares how the rental house is kept and the tenants should too. And most of them do!
Rental home inspections seem to limit naughtiness. So Santa (and this property manager) now put them firmly on the “nice” list.
Merry Christmas & Happy Landlording!
Learn MoreWesley Snipes’ IRS Case for Rental Home Inspections
Wesley Snipes is a great actor. Watching him in White Men Can’t Jump, Major League, and other films is some good theater.
But Wesley got some bad advice at tax time in the late 90’s. His accountants told him there was a loophole that would allow him to avoid $7M in taxes; in fact, he didn’t even have to file tax returns. He thought that sounded pretty good. And besides, everybody knows the IRS isn’t really paying close attention with the sheer amount of returns they have to log every year.
Well, the IRS was paying attention. And they got Wesley’s attention with a 3-year prison sentence that ended in 2013.
It was sad for everyone: his many fans, his accountants (who received even stiffer jail sentences), the IRS who had to use limited resources to prosecute his case, and especially for Wesley (who had reputedly earned over $40M from 1999-2004).
There were a lot of questions in Wesley’s case, but one almost undeniable certainty- Wesley’s tax returns now are the most truthful and timely documents he files every year.
This logic spills over into residential property management and periodic home inspections. If landlords can show tenants that they are paying attention to what is going on in the house and whether maintenance is being done, they will undoubtedly get a better conditioned house when the tenant eventually vacates.
So, yes, this means going over to and inside the rental house. I’d highly recommend giving the tenant a week or so notice of when the home inspection is and letting them know what you are specifically planning on looking at (e-mailing them a list is helpful).
Q. What should a landlord include in their home inspections?
A. Anything they care about.
Some general things I care about:
- Do the keys still work?
- Is the lawn and landscaping being kept up?
- Are the air filters being changed?
- Are the fire and CO detectors still there on each level of the house and are they functional (aka is the tenant changing the batteries when they die?)
- Is the home clean?
- Does it smell like smoke?
- Is there evidence of a pet if there isn’t supposed to be one?
- Does anything look weird?
Feel free to add anything else of interest. I also think conducting the home inspections twice a year (roughly on month 3 and month 9 of the lease) works well. Paying attention is good, stalking is bad.
Wesley has some well-maintained tax returns now and periodic home inspections should lead to some well-maintained rental homes.
Happy Landlording!
Brett Furniss is a property manager at 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 for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn More3 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:
- 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!
- 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.
- 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!
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