Real estate investing is a great way to make an income, but you need to put in the work.
Proper rental property maintenance is crucial, and you can only maintain a property effectively if you know what state it's in. Regular rental property inspections will allow you to keep an eye on your properties and carry out any work that's needed. The question is, how often should you inspect your properties?
Let's take a closer look at rental property inspection in Greenville, SC.
The Importance of Rental Property Inspections
First and foremost, rental property inspection laws demand that all landlords must ensure their properties are safe and fit to live in for tenants. If you fail to maintain yours, you could run into legal trouble.
On top of this, it's good practice for property investors. Regular maintenance will help ensure your property maintains its value.
Many landlords hire property managers to carry out inspections. They know how to do them properly, ensuring nothing is missed.
When to Inspect a Rental Property
There are three types of rental property inspections you should do as a landlord: moving-in inspection, moving-out inspection, and routine inspection.
A moving-in inspection happens before a tenant's move-in date. You can use a rental property inspection checklist to assess the current state of the property and deal with any issues before they move in.
The moving-out inspection comes at the end of their tenancy. You can check to see if they've caused any damage, and if necessary, you can use their security deposit to cover repair costs.
Throughout the tenancy, you can conduct routine inspections. These are essentially to keep an eye on the state of a property. You can then deal with issues as and when they arise.
How Often Should You Inspect a Rental Property?
Technically, a landlord can inspect their property as many times as they choose, but overdoing it is a bad idea. Tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property, meaning you can't disturb them whenever they want.
Tenants won't like it if you're constantly coming in to take a look around. If you want to maintain good tenant relations, you shouldn't perform more inspections than you need to.
In Greenville, SC, all landlords must give a minimum of 24 hours' notice before conducting an inspection. Ideally, however, you'll give them more.
Many landlords detail an inspection schedule in their lease. It could state that you'll perform an inspection once a year, twice a year, or even quarterly, for example. This lets tenants know what to expect from the start, then you can just give them a reminder when an inspection date is nearing.
Professional Rental Property Inspections
It's typically best to include your inspection schedule in your lease, though carrying out inspections is often tricky for many landlords. Hiring a professional property management company can be a good idea as they know exactly how to handle rental property inspections and what to look for.
Flagship Properties has been providing professional property management services throughout Greenville, SC, since 2018. We've helped all kinds of clients and many of them have left us 5-star reviews which you can see on our site. Take a look at our residential property management page to find out more about our services.
