Perform Inspections to Keep Your Property in Its Best Shape

Perform Inspections to Keep Your Property in Its Best Shape

It is important to make sure your tenants are taking care of your investment property. Conducting yearly inspections ensures that everything is going as smoothly as it should at your investment properties. It would be most polite to give your tenants about a week’s notice so they are prepared for your entry. Giving them time to clean up and prepare for someone entering their home will make for a positive landlord-tenant relationship.

Inspections give landlords more peace of mind, by giving them insights into anything going on at the property. Inspections allow landlords to check on things required by law; smoke alarms, carbon dioxide detectors, heat, water, and electricity. These are important to check periodically.

Also, inspections ensure the tenants are sticking to the lease agreement. This includes if the tenant broke the lease by getting a new pet, or having more people living there than originally announced. Keep an eye out for holes in the walls, as well as checking the floors, windows, and doors. Either they fix it, or its taken out of the deposit! Hold tenants accountable for any damage they have done.

More serious things like pest infestations can be found during inspections as well. It is much easier to treat pest infestations before they have a chance of getting out of hand, and regular inspections can help find them early.

Make sure to routinely check up on your property’s lawn care as it is an important element of maintenance. If you are renting out a house with a front lawn in Huntington Beach and you see the tenants leave the lawn completely overgrown, the landlord should address it. The house should blend in with the other houses in the neighborhood. If the original agreement stated that it is the renter’s responsibility for maintaining the lawn, it’s important they hold up their end of the bargain. Periodic drive-bys ensure renters are taking care of the lawn. If not, inform the tenant that part of their security deposit will cover the fees for a lawn service.