Did you know that there are over 32,000 building inspectors in the United States? If you own a rental property, one of those inspectors is likely to check up on your property once in a while.
However, it is possible to have rental property inspection errors during this process.
How can you improve the property inspection process? What should you look out for?
These are five errors that you need to keep an eye on.
1. Getting Lazy
This should be an obvious one, but do not get lazy on property inspections. People can get vulnerable to this when they feel like they are experienced and will not let the smallest details get by them.
This can be a situation where you let your guard down and something goes unreported. Stay alert and stick to the same routine that has given you success in the past.
2. Lack of Details on the Inspection Report
The inspection report can be very important if you end up having a legal issue with your tenant. That is because this piece of paper can cover you on any issues that were there before you let them rent the apartment vs. damages that the tenant caused.
Without a good inspection report, it can just become a he-said-she-said battle with your tenant in a messy situation like this.
3. Not Noting Past Inspection Reports
As a landlord, you may find an issue with an apartment that you are surprised to see. However, it may be a minor issue that you forgot about in the past that was noted on a previous inspection report.
Here, the key is to make sure that you review past inspection reports before going through with a new property inspection. Doing this will allow you to have a fresh perspective on what the issues are in this apartment.
4. Not Addressing Past Issues
Another thing that you need to make sure that you do as a landlord is to address any issues that come up on previous inspections. If you let those linger too long, your tenant may have a case for negligence on your part.
As a landlord, you should plan to spend about 1% of the property's value on maintenance expenses per year.
5. Bad Inspector
Finally, you could end up having a bad inspector go through this property. They may not see legitimate issues that come up in advance with the property, and you could end up paying for it out of pocket.
Make sure you have someone that knows what they are doing by your side if you do use an inspector.
Stop Rental Property Inspection Errors
These are five rental property inspection errors that you need to keep an eye on. Some of this can be negligence like getting lazy on inspections, hiring bad inspectors, forgetting to review past inspection reports, or not addressing issues immediately.
If you can tighten up these issues, you should be good to go in the future.
Luckily, a rental property management company can help you here. Message us to learn more about this.
