Category Landlords

How To Deal With A Vacant Property

A rental property may become unoccupied at times. Whether it’s for a short period between leases or for a longer period, such as planned repairs that are simpler to complete without a tenant in place, the negative is that a vacant property is far more exposed. If there are water leaks or weather damage, it may go unseen until you visit the property again. If it’s clear that no one lives there, it might be targeted by vandals or squatters, both of which could require time and money to settle.

Here are some of our best rental property management tips for a vacant property.

If You Have A Vacant Property, Let Your Insurer Know

Many landlord insurance policies only cover a vacant property for up to 30 days, so you should talk to your insurance company as soon as you know your rental will be empty. If you don’t, and something happens that makes you need to file a claim, your policy could be cancelled.

Your insurance company will be able to tell you what you need to do to keep your policy valid. For example, they may tell you to turn off the gas and keep the heat on low during the colder months to prevent the pipes from freezing and keep the property free of mould. They can also tell you when you will need to switch to “unoccupied property insurance.” This may cost a little more, but if it gives you peace of mind that you’re safe, it’s well worth it.

Make Regular Security Checks

Your landlord insurance provider will probably want you to check on the property often while it’s empty, usually once a week, to make sure it’s still safe and in good shape.

So, when you get there, make sure all the doors and windows are locked and there are no signs that someone tried to get in. Check each room to make sure there’s no damp from the outside or a leak inside, and open the windows for a while to let the air circulate so the house doesn’t get stuffy (remembering to close them again properly before you leave).

If you can, put a couple of lamps inside on timers so they turn on and off at different times. If you don’t already have one, it’s also a good idea to install an outside motion sensor light on the exterior of your vacant property. Burglars and vandals don’t like it when it’s bright!

Make Sure The Vacant Property Is Clean

If the property is empty because it is between tenants, you might want to have a deep clean done by a professional to get rid of any surface mould, make sure all your fixtures shine, and give the property a new look and feel for viewings.

When tenants leave trash behind, it’s important to get rid of it as soon as possible so it doesn’t attract illegal dumpers or become a fire hazard.

How To Furnish Your Rental Property On A Budget

When it comes to presenting their property to the market, landlords who opt to lease their housing furnished must make some significant considerations. How can you invest in trendy decor and appealing furnishings that will attract great tenants without eroding your profit margin? Let’s investigate more.

What’s The Target Market?

Tenants looking for furnished apartments are most usually young individuals or students, or corporate professionals looking for short-term rentals. These are persons who don’t (yet) have any household items that need to be accommodated, or who are searching for temporary housing away from their primary residence.

If you furnish your rental property, you will be needed to supply basic items such as beds and clothing storage, a couch or other living room furniture, a dining table and chairs, and window decorations and floor coverings throughout the property. A hob/oven and fridge are regarded as basic in the kitchen, and a washing machine is extremely desired.

Some candidates may desire to bring an item or two with them. That might be an acceptable compromise if you can be adaptable to the wishes of what seems to be a high-quality renter. However, keep in mind that you may pay extra fees for storing unnecessary furniture when your furnish your rental property.

Balancing Style And Practicality

The first rule when you furnish a rental property is to leave your own taste at the door. This is not the time to experiment with the current colour trends, nor is it the place for statement wallpaper, much alone superfluous trinkets. Choose a neutral colour palette that will appeal to a wide range of preferences, and create a smart, unified design with matching furniture – a basic style with clean lines will suit you well.

Be very cautious while saving money by acquiring mismatched second-hand things for your rental apartment. Unless you have a keen eye for interior design, old furniture is likely to disappoint you and is nearly always a waste of money.

When it comes to furniture and furnishings for rental houses, rule number two is that practicality rules supreme. Divan beds are more durable than bed frames, and if you can obtain one with storage below, that’s even better – you may need less cabinet space elsewhere. Mattresses have a lifetime of around 7 years under typical household settings, however some tenants may request a new one (or bring their own) before moving in.

Your upholstery textiles and soft furnishings must be durable, simple to clean, last a long time, and blend in. Avoid fragile textiles and bright colours that tend to stain. Many sofa and armchair collections feature detachable, washable covers that don’t need professional upholstery cleaning, which may save you a lot of money. Remember that all furniture and furnishings must be labelled with fire safety information.

Carpeting your rental property can be a costly endeavour, therefore it is critical to maximise your investment. Select a carpet that guarantees strength and longevity, can tolerate strong household usage, is stain-resistant, and is simple to maintain. Neutral mid-tones are the most effective in ‘hiding dirt.’ Nylon and polypropylene carpets are less expensive and many are bleach cleanable, but wool carpets are more expensive to install and maintain.

Maintain your rooms clutter-free, and provide crucial pieces of furniture that are in excellent condition and coordinate. Fitted shelves and cabinets may be more expensive at first, but they have a longer lifetime and are much simpler to maintain than freestanding equivalents. Remember that every item will need to be cleaned, maintained, and eventually replaced. The more goods there are, the more expensive it is to maintain them.

Don’t Take Your Eye Off The Budget

The expense of outfitting a rental apartment can quickly add up. However, if you cut too many corners, the property’s desirability will suffer, resulting in less demand and lower monthly rent. It is preferable to save money by eliminating superfluous accessories and taking advantage of special deals, interest-free financing, or cost-effective landlord furniture bundles.

Compare the cost of equipping your rental home to the recurring cleaning, repair, maintenance, and replacement costs that you will undoubtedly pay during and between leases. You should also account for your (or your agent’s) time in dealing with furnishing-related callouts. If the stove suddenly fails or the curtain rail falls from the wall, you will not only be the first to know, but you will also be expected to address the issue quickly.

The Power Of The Inventory When You Furnish Your Rental Property

Finally, make it a top priority to do a thorough inventory of the property’s items before a new tenant comes in and again before the same renter goes out. 

Depending on the duration of the rental, you may opt to visit the property more regularly – say, every three months – to identify and address any evident symptoms of damage as soon as feasible.

The inventory, also known as a Schedule of Condition, is a complete written list that covers all of the property’s contents and their condition, and can include images and videos — here’s one example. This agreement serves as the foundation for any damages for which you may be reimbursed. If any damages occur during the lease, estimates for repair or replacement, as well as information of any deductions from the tenant’s deposit, should be communicated to the tenant.

Whatever your degree of investment in equipping your rental flat, the inventory is a critical tool for resolving any fights or disputes with your tenant over property damage, safeguarding your maintenance and repair budget, and helping to maximise your profit margin.

Smoking In A Rented Property: What Are The Rules?

What can a landlord do about smoking in a rented property? It’s a difficult thing to have to deal with. On one hand, it’s no secret to landlords that daily smoking is hazardous for a property’s air quality and may cause significant damage to the interior. However, a landlord’s lenient attitude toward smoking will open the door to the greatest number of potential renters, because there are still many smokers.

How Many Smokers Are There?

When it comes to smoking in a rental property, according to a recent poll, just seven percent of landlords agree to allow tenants to smoke during the tenancy, despite the fact that more than one-fifth of the population are smokers.  So, are landlords passing on a golden opportunity? Before making any hasty choices, landlords of Houses in Multiple Occupation should examine the following research, which discovered that smoking renters are not very popular with their flatmates:

Barely 19 percent of other renters indicated they would be pleased to live with smokers, 37 percent of flatmates would share housing with a smoker if they would smoke outside and 44 percent of flatmates usually would not want to share with someone who enjoyed smoking in a rented property.

Another recent poll, this one conducted by Easyroomate, found that 38 percent of private landlords would evict tenants who were detected smoking within a rented property.

Do Landlords Have A Choice If Tenants Are Smoking In A Rented Property?

In these days of the Human Rights Act, do landlords have any right to ban their tenants from smoking in their rental property. The quick answer is… yes.

It is completely feasible to include a brief phrase to ban renters from smoking in a rented property. We recommend something like this:

3.7.13 Not to smoke or let any guest or visitor to smoke tobacco or any other substance in the property, unless the landlord has provided written approval.

How To Enforce A Smoking Ban

The enforcement of this provision, on the other hand, is a concern. If the landlord is confident that a tenant was smoking without authorization, they must first acquire evidence to prove it. Simply stating that the room smelled “a little smokey” is unlikely to suffice in a court.  To evict a tenant on these grounds, a landlord must use one of the fault-based grounds for possession, such as Ground 12: The tenant has violated one or more of the provisions of the rental agreement, excluding the responsibility to pay rent. However, this is one of the reasons for possession where the court has discretion in granting a landlord a possession order.

This implies that no two cases will be the same, but more importantly, there is little chance that a ‘liberal minded’ court would toss a tenant out on the streets for having the ‘odd smoke’ in their own house. As a result, there is little prospect of a landlord obtaining possession. This means, the odds of a landlord winning while a tenant continues to pay rent are small. Is there anything more a landlord could do if a tenant keeps smoking in a rented property?

smoking in a rented property
Photo by Pixabay

Other Approaches To Prohibit Smoking In A Rented Property

One technique to cope with any harm produced by a smoking renter is to request a premium rate. It doesn’t have to be much, maybe five percent, just enough to pay the price of redecorating. As we indicated earlier, 1 in 5 individuals still smoke, therefore being tolerant may provide a landlord an opportunity in the market, providing you don’t mind redecorating on a recurring basis.

The alternative method may be to require a larger deposit from a smoker in the expectation that if damage occurs, the landlord would be successful in withholding a portion of the renters deposit to pay the damage caused by smoking in a rented property. However, we’re sceptical that a landlord could persuade a TDS adjudicator that the damage (which, let’s face it, frequently smells worse than it appears) is a problem even where you’ve gone to the time of meticulously creating a property inventory.

The long and short of smoking renters is that although the law seems to be on the landlords’ side, enforcability is a far more difficult and unpredictable procedure. Unless landlords have a trick up their sleeves, the best solution seems to be to attempt to pick an honest non-smoking renter in the first place, or to just accept the fact that there will be smoking in a rented property.

Why Are More People Choosing To Rent Than Buy Their Property?

The way we think about homeownership is changing. Buying a home used to seem like a natural step for the great majority of people, but it is now anticipated that by 2025, more than half of individuals under the age of 40 would be living in private rented housing. Renter demand in the United Kingdom is 43 percent greater than the previous five-year average.

So, what is causing this shift, will it continue, and how will it affect landlords? Is choosing to rent the new normal?

Choosing To Rent: The Advantages

One of the main reasons many people are choosing to rent is because the rental property market, which was historically plagued by rumours of unscrupulous landlords and exorbitant rates, has matured and is now viewed as a more progressive market that meets people’s requirements. Renting is seen to be desirable because:

• Unlike homeowners, you do not have to stress about property upkeep
Renting a property is simpler and faster than buying one.
• It is less expensive financially; a smaller investment is needed, monthly rent might be less than a mortgage payment, and there is no house insurance, solicitors’ fees, or stamp duty.
• Tenancy terms can be tailored to individual requirements, making it simpler to prepare for a future transfer.
• More rental market rules mean renters have more legal protection.
• There is no risk of falling into the negative equity trap.

Barriers To Home Ownership

People’s capacity to own a house has had perhaps the most significant influence on the rental market. Many people, especially the younger generation, are unable to get a foot on the housing ladder. According to some estimates, up to one-third of millennials will never purchase a house, while the other half will rent into their thirties. This isn’t solely due to the difficulties of saving for a deposit. High property prices result in higher mortgage repayments, making it more difficult to get a mortgage. Tighter lending standards also make it more difficult to obtain a mortgage. In some cases, then, it’s not that they are choosing to rent, but that they have to.

Unstable Personal Finances

The increase in property prices is exacerbated by income stagnation while the cost of living rises. Even if the funds were available to purchase a house, many people are turned off by the impression that the housing market is volatile and may trap them in a property that no longer meets their requirements.

People are changing their lifestyle choices, including more social living, for a variety of reasons, including financial concerns or a broader shift in society values. Searches for UK-based co-living rental options have increased by 4000 percent in the past four years, and the build to rent industry continues to develop, providing renters with an intriguing choice.

Prospects are high for landlords and brokers who have well-managed homes to sell and who listen to their tenants’ requirements and the market. Renting is seen as an exciting alternative to buying, with the promise to provide something more in line with how people live and work today.

How To Reduce The Wear and Tear Of A Rental Property

Regardless of the kind of property, wear and tear is inevitable. Every house has a shelf life, and the more people that live in it, the more fragile and worn out it becomes. However, there are methods to safeguard your rental property and minimise the impacts of normal wear and tear on the property.

For landlords, this page discusses what constitutes “normal wear and tear” and offers advice on how to keep rental properties in good condition.

What Is Classed As Normal Wear and Tear For A Property? 

Typical wear and tear on a property is caused by ageing or exposure to extreme weather conditions, such as direct sunlight. If you’ve owned a home for a lengthy amount of time, wear and tear is inevitable in most cases.

A few instances of progressive wear and tear include:

  • Stains on rugs and carpets
  • Slight dings and dents in wood or carpeting
  • Curtains that have lost their lustre
  • Chipped paint
  • Windows that are dirty or old
  • Defective latches and handles
  • Peeling or scratched wallpaper
  • Cracks in plaster

How To Prevent Wear And Tear In Your Rental Property 

It is inevitable that wear and tear will occur, but you and your tenants can endeavour to minimise its impact. Approaches include, but are not limited to:

Conduct Regular Property Inspections 

Establish a schedule for periodic inspections of the property. If you visit the property every three to five months, you’ll be able to stay on top of any maintenance concerns and rest easy knowing your renters are doing their part to keep it in good shape.

As you stroll about the home, take note of any little concerns that might turn into a bigger problem if they aren’t addressed. When scheduling these inspections, be sure to talk to your tenants about the best day and time for both of you. It’s often best to have interim inspections carried about by an unbiased third party, like the experts at Looksy Inventories. 

Monitor Plumbing In Your Investment Property 

You must keep an eye on your property’s plumbing while doing the inspections outlined in this section. Leaks, damage to neighbouring properties, and even harm to your rental property and its contents are all possible outcomes of faulty plumbing and damaged pipes. Replace any worn-out pipes, and get them checked on a regular basis.

Ensure Your Rental Property Is Regularly Cleaned 

Create a standard that is realistic and acceptable to your tenant. Make sure they know what you anticipate and remind them that frequent cleaning and maintenance helps to extend the life of your property – and minimises the issues of wear and tear.

If you have a lease agreement in place, you can even employ a cleaning service for your rental property. For example, this should guarantee that kitchens and other community facilities are maintained clean.

Create A Property Inventory  

An inventory should be kept by every landlord. This will serve as documentation of the property’s contents at the start of the tenancy and may assist you in covering the expenses of any possible damage. It will establish expectations for your renters and help you to monitor the property’s condition. Contact Looksy Inventories today to find out more. 

Working From Home & Covid-19: What Happened To The Rental Market?

When many workplaces were forced to close because to the Covid-19 outbreak, an extraordinary shift toward working from home occurred. In order to accommodate their new work habits, tenants had to reevaluate what they required from their rental property, which had a big influence on the rental market.

What Adjustments Did Tenants Want To Work From Home?

As a result of individuals working from home, whether they were renting or owning, three essential aspects of their residences changed:

• Work area

• A place to relax and unwind in the fresh air

Location

For many families, there was a need for more than one person to work at the same time. For those who wanted to work from home, more room was required. Employees wanted an additional room for a home office, but the option to set up a particular workspace or desk in an existing room also made a significant impact.

working from home
Photo by Edward Jenner

People also wanted more outdoor space in addition to more inside space. When individuals were not permitted to leave their homes, having a garden or even a balcony became a necessity. For both physical and emotional well-being, even when constraints have been relaxed, getting up and moving about throughout the course of a long day at a home desk is a need.

Finally, people’s ability to live altered as well. To save time and money, they no longer had to drive to cities or commuter suburbs to go to work.

Renters, in particular, have the freedom and flexibility to pick where they want to reside based on their work schedules. As a result, a large number of city dwellers relocated to the countryside or small villages outside of the city centre in search of more affordable housing with the additional room they sought.

What Happened After Lockdown?

Expectations are high that things will revert to pre-pandemic status, including those of tenants, at some point in the near future. Even still, according to YouGov, 60% of British employees would like to work remotely from time to time, so the need for space and desire to live in distant areas may be here to stay.

However, when businesses reopen, there seems to be a resurgence in city life. According to a recent BBC article, the urban rental market has seen an uptick in demand due to people returning to work gradually and covid restrictions being loosened. This year’s January demand was 76% higher than in the prior four years.

Landlords who own homes in cities and bigger towns will be pleased to hear this news. However, they must take into account the fact that many renters will continue to work from home, which will have an impact on their choice of property.

Looksy Inventories Is Here For You

Contact Looksy Inventories now to learn more about how our local team can become your inventory partner and ensure that your property continues to be attractive to today’s tenants.

Why Is Landlord Communication So Important For Tenants?

Good landlord communication is vital. Landlords must establish a relationship of trust and open communication with their tenants if they want to be successful in managing their properties.

Whether you’re in a relationship with a spouse, a friend, or a tenant, communication is essential. In order to create trust and define responsibilities in a relationship, you need to communicate effectively.

The most essential thing you can do as a landlord is establish a relationship based on mutual trust and open lines of landlord communication with your tenants. It takes the right people, at the right time, with the appropriate knowledge to communicate effectively.

landlord communication
Photo by NEOSiAM 2021 from Pexels

Why Do Landlords Need To Do This?

Landlord communication that is open and honest helps develop trust and creates long-lasting partnerships.

Good communication between parties reduces the likelihood of misunderstandings.

When Should Landlords Start?

Transparency is critical right from the get-go. This should begin before the tenant comes in and continue during the tenancy. Make sure your tenants know how to get in contact with you and what your expectations are.

Who Is Responsible?

With your tenants, you have a duty to communicate clearly. In order to have a strong connection, both sides will need to speak with each other. Landlord communication needs to work both ways.

What Method Of Landlord Communication Is Best?

There are various methods to communicate nowadays, including conventional letter writing, phone calls, and visits to the tenants, as well as email, SMS, and other social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages for landlords when it comes to interacting with their renters.

However, there are occasions in which specific procedures are preferable, such as serving legal documents or an eviction order, which necessitates documentation. If you want to remind a tenant of a forthcoming tradesperson appointment or schedule viewings, utilise channels like text messaging or WhatsApp. It’s a good idea to use email to communicate tenancy documents, such as a lease or inventory.

Depending on the severity of the issue, a landlord may resort to making emergency phone calls. Landlords often forget to contact their tenants, yet doing so may help fix issues much more swiftly.

How To Communicate Effectively

Putting a face to a name helps to establish trust and a connection right away.

If you utilised any experts or tradespeople, such as an inventory clerk, please let the tenant know. This will save time and alleviate issues in the future.

Let them know what their obligations are as well as yours, and be upfront about it.

Tenants want to know you’re accessible if they have issues or concerns.

Keep your end of the bargain by adhering to inspection dates and completing maintenance tasks.

Keep in mind that connections are continuous, so don’t be afraid to remind or notify ahead to scheduled maintenance appointments or inspections. Take requests seriously and respond promptly.

Having a written record of conversation will be helpful for future reference, and it will protect both parties if they do so.

In order to make your work simpler, you should make use of a property management site that provides you with the necessary resources.

How To Keep Maintenance Costs Down On A Rental Property

When it comes to keeping your rental property maintenance costs low, ‘prevention is the best cure,’ as the adage goes. That means you should make sure the building’s fabric is in excellent repair before renting it out, and then have a continuous inspection and maintenance programme in place to help prevent any significant and expensive concerns. Read on to find out more.

maintenance costs
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Have An Independent Survey

Unless you’re investing in a new home with a warranty, you should always use an independent surveyor to reduce maintenance costs. Remember that the valuation that your Buy to let mortgage lender prepares is just to protect them – not you – and it may be as simple as a surveyor searching up “comparables” online – they may not even visit the property in person.

Surveys are classified into numerous tiers. The ‘right’ one for you will depend on the age and condition of the property you’re purchasing, so consult with a RICS-qualified surveyor to see which is best for you. Make certain that the report include guidance on both current and possible future difficulties.

Do As Much Work As Possible Before You Let It Out

Fixing serious faults or making repairs after you’ve begun renting out your house could be far more difficult and expensive than performing the work before anybody moves in. If problems emerge during a lease, you’ll have to negotiate with tenants about when repairs are made and may have to arrange for them to be relocated somewhere if the project is large. If you wait until the property becomes unoccupied at the conclusion of a tenancy, you could face a lengthy period of time with no rental revenue.

As a result, it’s normally a good idea to do as much work as possible after finalising your acquisition, which should enable you to ‘future proof’ the house for at least the next 10-15 years, reducing maintenance costs.

Carry Out Regular Inspections

Once the property has been rented, it is critical to do frequent inspections – every 6-12 months – to examine both the interior and outside for any indications of deterioration that might lead to difficulties. It’s often a good idea to get an inventory clerk to do this for you. For example, if a roof tile has slid or the guttering has fractured, water might infiltrate the masonry and cause moisture inside. If surface mildew in the bathroom is left ignored, it may spread and develop into a significant mould problem. Depending on the reason, this might need specialised treatment and possibly jeopardise your tenant’s health. In summary, always solve issues as soon as they arise, before they become more expensive duties.

Give Your Tenants A Home Worth Looking After

If you give your tenants a home that is in excellent shape and has a high degree of interior décor, it normally encourages them to take care of it – and this should result in you spending less on maintenance costs and repairs. So it’s worthwhile to invest in quality furniture, repaint the walls every few years, and reply as soon as your renter complains anything isn’t functioning. Not only will items stay longer, but you should be able to charge more rent as a result.

If you’re considering making a new investment or remodelling an existing home, call us and talk to one of the staff about ways to save money on upkeep.

Rent Increases: What Do Landlords Need To Know?

Rent is a divisive issue, and rent increases even more so. Landlords must take into account the expenses of mortgage repayments, market fluctuations, and inflation when determining a reasonable rent or raising a current rent. Tenants, on the other hand, are generally upset with rent increases.

The truth is that nothing is ever the same, and prices are no exception. The expense of living is rising even if inflation is low at the moment. As time goes on, landlords’ expenses rise, hence rent hikes are a necessary part of the economy. Increasing rent to offset growing expenses is one thing, but raising rents for profit is quite another.

In this post, we’ll discuss the guidelines for rent increases, as well as whether it’s permissible to raise the rent and what other options you have.

rent increases
Photo by Alaur Rahman from Pexels

When Landlords Can Implement Rent Increases

For a periodic or fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy, current rent is determined by the lease agreement. When a tenant signs a lease, they are agreeing to pay this amount. Furthermore, the leasing agreement should explicitly explain how and when a landlord might increase the rent.

Fixed-Term Tenancy Rent Increases

The landlord cannot raise the rent during a fixed-term tenancy, such as a 12-month agreement, unless there is a provision in the tenancy agreement that allows for an interim increase. Rent increases must be adhered to in accordance with the terms of your lease.

Renewals of fixed-term leases require that the new rate be included in an agreement signed by the tenant agreeing to pay the old rent when it expires.

Tenants with fixed-term leases do have the option of transitioning into periodic ones, but this isn’t required. A rent increase agreement may be issued at this time.

Rent Increases For Periodic Tenancies

The landlord can only raise the rent once a year under a monthly (or weekly) lease. The tenant must consent to any increase in rent before it can go into effect. In order for an agreement to be legally binding, it must be signed and dated by both parties. In order to provide the tenant at least a month’s notice of a rent increase, the landlord will need to issue a new rent form. A copy of the rental agreement must be kept on file by the tenant.

All rent increases must be reasonable and in accordance with the existing market rates in your neighbourhood.

Including a provision in the rental agreement stating that the rent will rise by X percent after six months is one approach to prepare ahead of time in the event that you choose to raise the rent. In this method, the tenant is made aware of the impending increase and given the opportunity to agree to it in advance. Even though the tenant originally consented to an increase in rent, they have the right to complain if the increase is excessive.

Raising Rent On Regulated Tenancies

Different rules apply to regulated tenancies. There is a cap on rent rises in this type of tenancy, which are determined by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Every two years, landlords can request that the VOA evaluate their rentals. For example, if the property has been rebuilt or enlarged and the rent has been increased, a rent review might be sought. Although the VOA can both raise and lower your rent, so you should be aware of this possibility.

How To Use Your Inventory

What a strange question, right? How to use your inventory? But it’s not all that strange when you think about it, and that’s exactly what this post will be about. The issue is that most landlords (and tenants) don’t use their property inventory in the right way. They book it and look through it (an excellent start) and then don’t think about it again until after the tenant has moved out.

What landlords (and tenants) really should be doing is looking at that report and any interim reports (also known as mid-term inspections) when the tenant gives their notice to leave the property. Leaving it until after they have gone might be too late. Let’s look into this in more detail.

how to use your inventory

How To Use Your Inventory As A Reminder

When you think about how to use your inventory, the first thing to consider is that it can be a perfect reminder of the condition the property was in at the start of the tenancy. By reading through it, and by encouraging your tenants to do the same, you’ll get a better idea of what to expect when they leave.

In fact, gently reminding the tenants that they need to leave the property in the same way they were given it, and that all the information they need to enable them to do that is in the property inventory is a good idea. Remind them of this, and also remind them that their deposit relies on them getting this right. The inventory will be the ideal roadmap to help them put things back how they found them, leading to fewer instances where a dispute has to be raised.

How To Use Your Inventory As A Predictor

Another good use for your inventory is to give you an idea of what to expect when the tenant leaves. Although the original inventory won’t necessarily help here, the interim reports will. They will show you how well the tenant is taking care of the property, and you’ll have a prior understanding of what state the property will be in when they leave. If they haven’t taken care of things during the tenancy, it is likely they won’t take too much care when they leave either. However, if the interim inspections have shown they’ve been looking after the place, you probably don’t have too much to worry about (this is not guaranteed, of course, but it’s a good rule of thumb).

Once they have left, no matter what the property is like, you can compare the check-out report to the original inventory and immediately see if there are any issues. This means there will be no delays in any action needs to be taken – remember, if you do nothing, the tenants have a right to their deposit back within 10 days of vacating the property, so if you want to make a claim, you need to do it asap.

Want To Know How To Use Your Inventory? Contact Looksy Inventories Today

At Looksy Inventories, we are experts when it comes to property inventory reports, check-ins, check-outs, and mid-term inspections. We can handle every report you need, and we’ll do it in an unbiased, efficient, professional way. Simply get in touch with us today to book your inventory or to ask questions; we’ll be happy to answer them.

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