When you own a rental property in Carson City, it’s critical to conduct inspections at specific times during the rental process. Each inspection serves a unique need, but they all provide a documented condition report which can be used when tenants are moving in or, more importantly, moving out.
Today, our service manager is discussing how rental inspections are used with our properties at Northern Nevada Property Management. Each walk-through rental inspection is conducted by our service manager, and they are done at the six-month and 12-month mark of every tenancy.
What to Look for in Walk-Through Inspections
You never want to simply show up at the property. Make sure the tenant knows you’re coming. We typically contact our tenants and schedule a time that is convenient for them.
Once inside the property, we look at everything that’s found on our inspection checklist. The main goal is to look at the living conditions at the home. We want to know the tenant is keeping the property well-maintained. While inside, we make notes of any outstanding issues that need our attention. This keeps our owners informed; they know through our reports that things are going well, or they know that there’s an issue which we will resolve right away.
Unreported Maintenance and Lease Violations
One of the most important things to look for is unreported or deferred maintenance. Some tenants will contact us as soon as there’s something that needs to be repaired. Other tenants will ignore problems that they believe are minor.
We like to take care of things right away. So, while doing our walk-through, we’ll check in the common places where unknown problems may be lurking. We look under every sink to make sure there aren’t any leaks or drips. We check filters to ensure they’re being changed, and we test all of the appliances, faucets, and toilets. We look at the landscaping to ensure there aren’t any tree branches or leaves obstructing the roof or the gutters. Checking security and safety issues is also important. We make sure handrails are tightened and all the windows and doors lock properly.
Lease violations are also easy to spot when we’re inside the property. If the property has a no-pets policy and we notice dog food or cat litter boxes lying around, we’ll know we have to address these concerns with the tenants. If we notice extra people may be living in the house or prohibited activities are occurring there, we ask the tenants to correct the situation immediately.
Our walk-through inspections during the lease period are an important part of maintaining your home and protecting the condition of your investment. We are also careful to conduct thorough inspections before a tenant moves in and after a tenant moves out. With all of the pictures we take and the documentation we provide, it makes it impossible for tenants to dispute any of the security deposit funds we withhold.
If you have any questions about how we maintain and inspect your rental property, please contact us at Northern Nevada Property Management.