Propery Inspections... How Often?

Discussion in 'Landlord & Rental Property Questions' started by Kate, Jun 2, 2014.

  1. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    **DRAT! I spelled property wrong in the subject line and it won't let me edit the subject... or at least I don't see an option for that. :rolleyes:

    Fortunately we don't have to decide things like how often our property manager does inspections of the house. He does them and lets us know what he found and if there were any issues. He does drive by once a week, though, to be sure there aren't any lawn or landscaping problems.

    Back when I was renting, the thought of a landlord being able to just knock on the door at will and expect to be given a grand tour always bothered me. It didn't feel right, even if they would have made an appointment. None of my landlords ever actually did an inspection (well, until we were going to move, that is) but I always knew they could have.

    How often do you think would be reasonable to do a walk-through inspection? I think our guy tries for twice a year. Is that too much in your opinion? Or too little?
     
  2. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    As a Landlord/lady...property inspections should be carried out twice-thrice per week, am speaking from experience of having tenants in form of a tragic disaster so knowing that someone will be paying a visit every now and then and sometimes the impromptu kind, will make those who were lax before to realize, i mean business!...my 2 cents.
     
  3. Leeroy_MY

    Leeroy_MY Well-Known Member

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    Twice/thrice a week is too much and would be annoying to the tenant. For us, we don't usually do full property inspections. Maybe drive by once in a while to see that everything is okay.

    The only times we do property inspections are when the tenants give notice that they're going to move out or they start to run behind on rent so that we can determine whether there are any damages to the house before the tenants leave which would cause them to lose their damage and security deposits.

    But if you are the type who wants to do property inspections, I'd say twice a year should be sufficient.
     
  4. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    A week? You've had tenants where you've done a physical inside-the-house inspection a few times a week? Wow... I've never heard of that. Even monthly is generally deemed much too often... that's why I think our property manager doing it twice a year is acceptable and reasonable.

    But you have me curious now. :D Did any of your tenants move out as fast as I would have? (Just half kidding there... but I'd like to hear more of your story.)
     
  5. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    Thanks, Leeroy... I don't really "want" them done, unless like you said, a tenant is moving out and it needs to be done. But our property manager is a real estate agent and does it automatically a time or two a year and I'm good with that.

    I'm sure if there'd be possible problems he'd pick up on, it would be more often maybe... but I'd think never more often than quarterly. There may even be landlord association laws about how often it can be done... I'll have to ask him about that.
     
  6. Peninha

    Peninha Senior Investor

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    Interesting, are these inspections mandatory? My parents live in a rented flat for about 30 years and they were no inspected a single time, so it possibly depends on the terms of your lease?
     
  7. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    I've never heard that they're mandatory, Peninha... no. It's usually done before the final rent is paid when someone is moving out.

    Our manager started it when the tenant was starting to have trouble paying the rent and I suppose it was to make sure that he wasn't going to skip out after trashing the house *and* not paying.

    But no, I've rented three different places myself before buying and I've never had a landlord ask for an inspection until it was time for me to move on and they needed to be sure I wasn't leaving problems behind.

    I do think my leases always had the *possibility* of an inspection (or threat? hehe) to leave that door open for it in case there was a problem, but no one ever did it.
     
  8. suiac

    suiac Guest

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    If I were were a tenant, I think it would annoy the hell out of me for some dude inspector to check on me 2 or 3 this A WEEK!
    I think once per year is more than reasonable. This way, you're not putting any pressure on the tenant and you can also make sure, as a property owner, that everything is ok.
    I agree about the case when the tenant is moving out - there should be done at least one inspection before that.
     
  9. Annabell

    Annabell Well-Known Member

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    Two, three times a week? That seems a bit excessive. Although I guess it could depend on who you're renting to.

    I'd say once a month would be the maximum. In my experience, landlords only really conduct inspections at the end of every quarter or so, unless it's coming close to the end of your tenacy and they're looking to try and get someone else into your place.
     
  10. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    That's what I thought, too... Maybe the poster who mentioned that will come back and tells us if she mistyped and meant something else like 2-3 times a year. I'm not really comfortable with more than twice a year unless there's some kind of trouble or possible trouble with the house.
     

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