How can you optimize your inspections? If you like to be the best that you can, it’s an important question to answer. We’ve talked a lot about some of the things that property managers should do during inspections, but it’s a big subject and we’ve hardly exhausted it.
After all, property inspections are complex, important, and there’s a lot on the line. In today’s article, we’ll look at a few tips that can help you to make the most of your property inspections, and ensure that you are doing the best job you can.
Study Ahead of Time: Be Knowledgeable
The best property managers do not treat their jobs as if they were part-time. Instead of simply thinking of themselves as functionaries responsible for collecting checks, following up on the occasional (or not-so-occasional) tenant complaint, and then doing inspections at need, they understand that they need to stay on top of things.
Being knowledgeable means staying informed of all applicable laws. It also means keeping an eye on things with tenants, so that you know what is and is not likely to become an issue. Long before your next inspection of a property, you should have some idea of what to expect, and you should know exactly what you need to be looking for.
Be Sure to Look Everywhere
Inspections are probably not the favorite part of any property manager’s job, but they are vital to get right. This means being very thorough and really looking everywhere for damage, dirt, and other problems. It’s not enough to take a peek at the attic, or the roof for that matter: be prepared to actually take a serious look.
Looking everywhere means exercising good judgment and paying attention to details, while also being able to see the bigger picture. How does the house look, overall? Is it fairly clean, or fairly messy? How tenants treat their homes can say a great deal about the types of issues you are likely to find.
Think About Others
Fundamentally, inspections aren’t really for you as a property manager. After all, the whole point of inspections is finding any issues for the tenants, and thus for the owners as well, so that they can be fixed. In other words, you are carrying out your inspections to serve other people.
Approaching inspections with a servant’s heart means thinking about others first and foremost. This is good virtue as well as good business: when people feel like their needs are taken seriously they are more likely to listen to you and want to do business with you.
Remember, you are inspecting a home to make sure it is safe for others to live in. You wouldn’t want somebody who didn’t care about you and didn’t take your needs seriously to inspect your home, so make sure that you are putting other people first as you carry out your inspections. This benefits tenants and clients both, and that means that it also benefits you.
A good property inspection app can help you to make the most out of these tips. With digital property management, you’ll save a great deal of time and energy on inspections. Simply collect all the information, and send off a highly professional auto-formatted report to your clients.
