Rental property is clearly in the portfolio of thousands of wealth building investors. There’s no doubt there is money to be made in real estate, but what is the secret? The truth is that this business is real: there is no secret to success.
Even if most owners understand the importance of regular inspections, the reality is that some of them think such a process is a waste of time. While inspections do take time and/or money to accomplish, they are often able to detect the straw that would have broken the camel’s back. Let’s take a look at a few pros and cons of inspections.
- Detect Damage before Disaster
A significant benefit of periodic inspections is that they can help you pinpoint problems with your rental. Since plumbing issues or even structural problems can appear out of nowhere, it’s a good idea to track and monitor the condition of the property closely. Some landlords are afraid of inspections, thinking that they may have to make costly repairs if anything is found. Finding rotted floor beams is never fun, but knowing and repairing it before someone gets seriously injured is probably a better practice. - Eliminate Concerns of Sub-letting
Many tenants sub-let the property to make money. It’s a practice that we encounter more and more often, which is why you have to take it into consideration. Regular inspections will give you a peace of mind that nothing is going on under the table. - Avoid Criminal Activity
Simply having someone from your team or yourself walk around the property occasionally for inspections can help reduce criminal activity. Advertising the fact that you do routine inspections can also prevent tenants who may be planning on engaging in criminal activity away from applying to your rental. Monitoring the property carefully will produce an environment that is not friendly towards illegal activity. - Vacant Home Protection
Even if your rental is not currently occupied, it is a good practice to check up on it frequently. Vacant home monitoring will give you peace of mind that there is no looting or breaking in. Damage done while the home is vacant is extremely frustrating; you must not only pay for the repairs, but the time to repair will prevent any paying tenants from moving in. It’s a great idea to have vacant home checks included with your inspections. - Maintain the Relationship with Tenants
One of the best things about regular inspections is that it improves the level of communication between the tenant and landlord. There are fewer unexpected problems, and the overall atmosphere between the two can become calm and mutually respectful. - You spend less on repairs
Since regular inspections identify any potential problems early on, any issues over the long term can be avoided. Maintenance on a water heater, for instance, is usually much cheaper than replacing one. If you, your tenant, and your property manager can work together to find any issues and tackle repairing them it makes things much easier on everyone.
The key to success in maintaining your property is close monitoring and early detection of issues. Regular home inspections, offered by The Grandin Agency, can increase your satisfaction with your rental property by making it much easier to monitor the property. By contract, we do an interior inspection of all our properties once every six months. We do a drive by every three months.
