Inspections & Insurance
Inspections – How often and how detailed. You should always do a detailed inspection with photos prior to tenant move in. Drive-by’s through out the year are fine. If the yard is looking shabby you might want to schedule an inside inspection or send the tenant a quick note that the yard is looking shabby. This lets them know you do check on the property.
I think it is reasonable to let your tenant know you will be doing an annual inspection. I would use the same check off list annually. My suggestion to be most effective is to schedule annual inspections to be done by a handyman or contractor. By using an outside person you will get a better assessment of the property. They can always do quick easy repairs on the spot. By using an outside person the tenant is more relaxed and you can find out if there are pets on the property when the lease says no pets, you can see if there are more people living in the property than what is on the lease, and the vendor can let you know overall cleanliness of the property.
If the owner does the inspection or the property manager once the tenant gets the 24 hour notice the place gets cleaned up prior to you showing up. In my business I rarely do the inspection during the tenancy. I have my handyman do it. We keep the maintenance check list in the file so we have a record of the maintenance history. I always and the owner should always do the move out inspection and again take photos. This eleviates disputes with security deposit and it keeps you informed to the condition of the property. You have seen it with your own eyes.
Keep in mind tenants get 24 hour notice for any inspection and inspections shouldn’t be done monthly or even quarterly. Tenants pay rent and have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property.
Insurance – this should be reviewed annually. Owners need a landlord policy and if the property is a condo the owner needs their own insurance in addition to insurance they may pay as part of their HOA fees. I am always surprised at how many owners don’t carry insurance and are under the false assumption that the HOA will cover any damages. It is also recommended that tenants have renter’s insurance. It is incredibly cheap – on average $130 per year and it protects the tenant by replacing damaged clothes, furniture, pays rent, hotel charges, often pays new security deposit and rent on a new place. I have rented to people who lost everything in a fire and they had renters insurance and I was shocked at what the insurance covered. I am truly convinced that all tenants should have renter’s insurance.
Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.
Kathleen Richards
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great point about inspections. I follow your blog and have submitted this post on our voter links at http://blog.mintek.com/vote-on-links/
Good job
Stuart
Stuart, thanks and hope you keep coming back for good tid bits on property management.
Kathleen