How Often do Santa Cruz Property Managers Inspect Properties?

Owners and landlords often ask the question: how often should property managers inspect properties? The really short answer to that question is – as often as possible. Any opportunity that we have to go look at the inside of a residence should be taken. This might mean taking a look around when a minor repair is needed. We always ask for feedback from our repair people and contractors anytime they go inside to maintain, repair or replace something. They can tell us how things look inside, and if there is anything we might want to investigate or talk to the tenant about. Our vendors are very good about staying in touch with us whenever they go into a house to do some work. Inspections should be part of their work.

When it comes to inspections, at the absolute minimum, an inspection must be done at the time of move in and then later at the time of move out. However, you don’t want to wait until a tenant moves out to visit the property again. I think you should always plan on doing at least an annual inspection of the property. At Real Estate Eight Three One, we always encourage our owners to come with us when we conduct that annual inspection. It’s a good way to keep them involved in their property and to show them what is happening there. Of course many of our owners are out of the area, so it’s just not convenient, and that’s understandable. In cases like that, we have a valuable new tool we use during inspections. Instead of bringing the owners with us, we can record our inspections on video. This is a more convenient tool that even our local owners have been taking advantage of. We simply email them a copy of the video.

Seeing the inspection on video gives owners the ability to see firsthand how we are doing as property managers and what the property looks like. It lets them know we are ensuring the condition of the property is maintained at high standards, and it also lets them see that the tenant is taking good care of the home.

If you have any questions about inspections or how to use them while managing your property, we would be happy to talk to you more about the topic. Please contact us at Real Estate Eight Three One.