You’ve taken the plunge and purchased a rental property. Not only do you want to rent it out, but you want to rent it to responsible people who take care of it.
The last thing you want is a property that is treated poorly and ends up distressed. If you end up in this situation, it can cost you a lot of money and hurt your overall profit line.
What can you do? You can conduct property inspections. In this article, we look at four benefits of having regular rental property inspections to safeguard your investment.
#1: It Lets You Check the Condition
By including regular inspections in your lease agreements, this becomes a rule for your tenants that helps you protect your investment.
One of the benefits of the rental property inspection is you get to take a look at the condition of your property. You can ultimately see whether or not your tenants are doing what they’re supposed to do.
This also lets you know if there are any issues or problems in the rental property. Things to look for:
- Whether the tenant has made any alterations to your property.
- If something is broken or needs repairs.
- Hoarding issues that may be going on.
- The condition of the backyard (and front yard). For example, are they mowing and watering your grass?
- Damage to the property.
- Any repairs that need to be made.
#2: It Helps You Prevent Problems
You can expect some normal wear and tear on your property through your regular rental property inspections.
This helps you catch problems before they become bigger issues. For example, your property may have a small leak in the basement that the tenants either didn’t notice or didn’t think was important to tell you about.
The rental property inspection alerts you to this before it becomes a bigger leak that even includes mold issues with more costly repairs.
You can also look for things your tenant may have tried to repair. Sometimes they do this well, and sometimes they don’t. Through the inspection you can see these repairs and whether or not they need to be professionally taken care of.
#3: It Helps You Enhance Communication
If you have good tenants in place, you want to keep them. It’s always easier to renew a lease than to fill the space with new renters.
By conducting rental property inspections, you maintain open communication with your tenants. You can find out what they want and need and then try to meet those wants and needs.
Retention is key, and customer service plays a role in renter retention. Use your inspection times to learn more about your tenants and how you can make them more comfortable.
#4: It Helps You Improve Appreciation
Appreciation plays a role in the value of your property. You’ll find that it’s based not solely on location but also on the condition of your rental property.
By using the regular rental property inspection, you can protect the appreciation of your property by gaining more control over the condition of it.
These inspections allow you to make improvements on an ongoing basis to improve its overall appreciation.
Final Thoughts
Maintaining the value of your investment properties is key to your success.
One way to help you is to use regular rental property inspections. Make sure to include this in your rental agreements.
You can schedule once a month, once per quarter, or even twice a year. The time frame is up to you.
To ensure your tenants are taking care of your property the way you outline it in your rental agreement, use the rental property inspection. If you don’t have time to do it, you can also ask your property management company to conduct these regular inspections for you.
At PMI East Lyme Property Management, we are your full-service residential and commercial property management company. We are here to protect your investments every day and make investing in property easier.
