If you are new to property renting and haven’t seen Property Inspection Reports before,
how will you know whether it is good or bad?
Property Inspection Reports – points to check for
Without adequate detail in a property inspection report, there can be disputes down the line about what was or wasn’t there when a tenant moved in. Unfortunately the sort of report sheets available for purchase tend to be very basic.
Report sheets that you buy tend to have boxes to tick showing good/average/poor condition with one line for added comments. If more comment is required extra sheets need to be attached. Some Property Managers will take the boxes as being adequate and not record specific detail of current condition.
Some Managers have not been shown how to do a thorough report i.e. adding extra sheets to the report to detail items which could be brought into dispute later on, so their actual report is vague and basically useless in a dispute.
One Property Inspection Report we have seen from another company states that wallpaper is in average condition in the kitchen, lounge, dining and hallway with an addendum of “wallpaper loose”.
So reading that do you surmise that the wallpaper is loose in all these areas or just one of them? Does loose mean peeling away from the walls, lifting at the joins, bubbling all over the areas or even falling away in strips? In other words it asks more questions than it answers.
- A good report on the other hand will specify each problem found and where it is.
- Remember a good Property Inspection Report should have detailed information
- Detailed information will tell you exactly what the problem is such as with the wallpaper example.
- If the report stated where, and in which area, there was a problem with the wallpaper such as “hallway, by front door, lifting at join, 300 mm length” this can be checked and rectified if necessary.
Please note this is just a general example of a detailed report as opposed to a tick in a box with a comment of wallpaper loose and is not intended as a standard for a report.
Is a written report all that’s needed?
A written Property Inspection Report is the major tool for a manager or owner but not the only one.
Photographs are an essential backup to the report as they will physically show what problems there are but the written report cannot be replaced by photographs alone and as said before the written report should be as detailed as possible, a must if a dispute ends up with the Tenancy Tribunal.
To summarise
Remember Property Inspection Reports are not all of the same quality – make sure your’s are the best by reporting in detail any problems. When signing up a new tenant both you and they are then aware of any problems which could cause disputes in the future.
Barry Bridgman has been managing his own investment property portfolio for 25 years. During this time, there has never been any occurrence of rent defaults or property damage and Barry’s goal is to achieve the same for your property. Bridgman Property Management is based in Auckland Central, where Barry has lived for more than 18 years.
