How To Simplify Rental Inspections: Top Tips & Tools

Rental property inspections are essential for residents, property owners, and property managers. However, when done poorly, they can be a real hassle. And when this happens, the people at the receiving end of complaints from residents and property owners are rental property managers.

Below are our top recommendations for simplifying your rental inspection process.

4 Ways To Simplify And Improve Rental Property Inspections

Now let’s list some tips and tools property managers use to improve and simplify rental property inspections.

1. Use RentCheck

RentCheck is a property management app designed to help residents, property managers, and maintenance staff save time with easy, self-guided inspections conducted on your smartphone.

So how exactly does this tool help simplify inspections for rental properties?

Resident-Led Inspections 

RentCheck provides users with easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions on how to conduct a house inspection. On top of this, you can do this at your own time, start and stop at any time, and pick up from where you left off without losing progress since everything is stored on the cloud.

This allows residents to conduct the inspection around their schedule and help increase the ratio of completed rental unit inspections for property managers.

Provides Easy Access To Inspection Reports

After every inspection, a standardized report is automatically generated and stored in a single location where the owner and property managers can review it. This makes comparing the move-in, periodic, annual, and move-out inspection reports easy. Additionally, you can download inspection reports and inspection pictures separately.

Simplified Scheduling Process

RentCheck has an easy-to-use scheduling tool that allows residents and property companies to arrange inspection dates. Thanks to the constant reminders sent via email, residents get enough time to prepare and conduct the inspections.

2. Prepare Before An Inspection

Conducting rental home inspections without any plan is a recipe for disaster. You’ll get into trouble with the property owner and develop a negative relationship with the residents.

We recommend following five steps to avoid this to ensure your inspection process is effective and efficient.

• Step 1: Since every property is different, prepare a customized inspection checklist for each specific property you manage.
• Step 2: Notify your residents beforehand once you’ve scheduled an inspection date. Most rental property managers provide residents with a 48-hour notice. However, we recommend sending your notification earlier to give your residents enough time to rearrange their schedules.
• Step 3: Conduct your inspection and prepare your inspection report. Don’t forget to send it to your resident.
• Step 4: Arrange for a contractor to implement repairs if necessary.
• Step 5: Inspect the repairs once your contractor is done.

3. Give Residents Your Ultimate Inspection Checklist

Many residents find home inspections to be a nuisance. That’s because your inspection report might point out issues they didn’t expect or don’t think are a problem. And the most common response to such situations is accusations you’re trying to deduct their deposits.

So to avoid being the recipient of such accusations, we recommend you provide your residents with the customized inspection checklist you’ll follow. Give it to them as soon as they move in, or send it when you notify them you’re scheduling an inspection.

Ensure your inspection checklist focuses on items protecting the owner’s property and affecting the health and welfare of your residents.

Below are the areas to consider during an inspection:

• Property Exterior: Check for damage on the property’s exterior (porches, balconies, driveways, walkways, siding, and railings). Note that the owner or resident is responsible for maintaining the grounds per the lease.
• Property Interior: This includes the inspection of floors, windows, doors, locks, stairs, railings, walls, ceilings, roofing, light switches, basements, window coverings, power outlets, toilets, and sinks.
• Property Systems: Inspection of property systems requires confirmation they’re working correctly. These systems include electrical, plumbing, cooling, heating, insulation, and ventilation. Remember to take care of consumables, such as smoke alarm batteries, furnace filters, etc., that require periodic replacements.
•  Property Inventory: This includes all the property items the property owner provides. For example, fire extinguishers, garage door openers, CCTV technology, fireplaces, appliances like washers and dryers.
• Occupants: Confirm the number of residents is the same as the number listed on the lease.
• Vehicles: Verify resident vehicles aren’t causing property damage on the walls, garage floor, or driveway.

4. Follow These Essential Inspection To-Dos

When a property manager decides to conduct an in-person inspection, the following will help them simplify the inspection process.

• Complete all previously identified repairs.
• Don’t give residents any room to miss inspection dates.
• Don’t only take pictures of problems. Take photos of everything to record the property’s condition accurately. However, remember to respect your resident’s privacy by avoiding taking pictures of personal items, valuables, people, or pets.
• Once you’ve completed inspecting everything on your checklist, have your resident sign it.
• Prepare an inspection report for your resident and the property owner. Be sure to include your completed checklist and inspection photos.
• If there’s concern regarding the condition of a particular property feature, call in an expert (home repair person) for further checks.
• If your resident violates a section of the property lease, provide a written notice and follow-up.
• If your inspection identifies a need for repair actions, arrange for a contractor to work on them immediately.

RentCheck Simplifies Rental Property Inspections

The actionable tips in this article are a surefire way of simplifying rental property inspections. However, they have one glaring weakness; you need multiple tools to organize and prepare inspection reports.

That’s why you need RentCheck. It helps further simplify your rental unit inspections by:

• Providing an all-in-one tool that allows your resident to conduct inspections. This saves you time and money from conducting in-person inspections or outsourcing to home inspectors.
• Automatically generating inspection reports that are easy to share with your residents and property owners.
• Allowing you to access and compare inspection reports when a resident is moving out, saving you from awkward moments over rent deposits.

To get started with RentCheck, sign up now -- it’s free!