In 2020, more than 35% of American households were renters. This means a significant portion of the population relies on rental housing.
As a landlord, carrying out rental property inspections is one of your responsibilities. There are several reasons why this is important, which we'll discuss in this article.
You need to conduct these inspections to know how your tenants treat your property. You can also consider hiring a property management company to assist you with these inspections.
Keep reading if you need clarification on how often you should conduct these inspections. We're answering that question right here.
What Is a Property Inspection?
A rental property inspection, or rental inspection, is an inspection of a property rented out to tenants. It can also be done before or after tenants occupy the premises. This is a great way to track the condition of your property.
If your tenants aren't caring for the property adequately, inspecting a rental unit will help you identify problems early. This means you can require the current tenant to fix the property, and you can catch things before they become costly to repair.
How Often Should Inspections Occur?
As a landlord, you want to avoid dropping in on your tenants every month. So how often should you be carrying out these inspections? There are several answers to this question. For instance, you can carry out rental property inspections:
- Before a new tenant moves in
- Before the current tenant moves out
- Quarterly
As a property owner, you need to give your tenants adequate notice that you will be coming by to conduct a rental property inspection. This notice period should already be defined in the rental agreement signed by all parties.
You can also do what is referred to as a drive-by inspection. This inspection is non-invasive and doesn't involve the tenant. Instead, you or your property manager can do a drive-by to review the state of the outside of the property. This type of inspection doesn't require you to notify your tenants.
Benefits of Rental Property Inspections
Carrying out rental property inspections has a few benefits. For example, inspecting before the tenant moves in means you can determine a baseline of the property's condition. This can then be reevaluated when the tenant is moving out. Additionally, inspecting your properties means you can address any damages early on.
Protecting Your Property With Inspections
Knowing how your property is treated is essential if you own rental real estate. For this reason, conducting rental property inspections will help you monitor things before they get out of hand and become costly repairs. You can perform an inspection before a new tenant moves in or the current one moves out. Otherwise, you can conduct them every four months.
Contact us today if you're looking for a top-quality property management company in Jacksonville, FL. Experts are waiting to help you manage your rental properties, so you have more time for yourself.
