Preparing For A Rental Inspection

Rental inspections can cause tenants unnecessary stress because they are unaware of what to expect or what is expected of them.

Here are our simple ways to prepare for your rental inspection.

1 Start prepping early
Agents and landlords are required to give you at least 24 hours notice before an inspection. Start doing little things leading up to the inspection. Do the gardens one day and dust all the window sills another. You will be surprised how much easier it is to clean one room a day than it is to spend the entire day and night before the inspection cleaning the house from top to bottom.

2. Minor repairs
There’s always a bit of confusion about whose responsibility it is to fix things in the property but a good rule of thumb is that if it’s your fault you need to fix it. It’s not the landlords problem that you spilled red wine on the carpet. If there is a problem with plumbing or electrical the landlord needs to take care of that. If there are any spots on the carpet or marks on the wall get these cleaned up before the inspection.

3. Clean properly
If you are happy with where you are living and the rent you are paying then you should be doing everything you can to stay there which includes keeping the property clean. Make sure all the window sills are dust free, scrub the shower screen, clean the carpets & floor boards and make sure the kitchen is clean including the oven, griller and cooktop.

4. Maintain garden
Make sure you keep the garden maintained. This includes water, trimming plants hedges etc, removing weeds and ensuring the lawn and edges are mowed. Your landlord will be impressed if you do a good job of maintaining the landscaping.

5. Write a list of issues to discuss
Inspections are a great opportunity to let the agent and landlord know about any maintenance issues that need addressing. An example would be the toilet keeps blocking or a light fitting keeps blowing bulbs. If we don’t know about the problem we can’t fix it.

6. Pets
To have pets at the property you must have the landlords and agents permission. When it comes time for the inspection arrange to have your pets visit a friend or family member or take them out of the house yourself. This benefits both your pet and the agent. It’s a little hard for the agent to do the inspection if there is a dog jumping all over them or continually barking at them and you could save your pet the stress of having strangers in their home.

7. Remain calm
Most inspections only last about 10 minutes and consists of the agent doing a quick walk around the house to check for any major issues or any damage.  Rental inspections aren’t worth getting stressed over. Just make sure you have cleaned the house and the agent can get inside the property.