Why are property inspections so important, anyway? We all do things in our daily lives that we know are important, like property inspections, and we may keep in mind some of the reasons why. That said, sometimes it’s a good idea to take a moment to reflect on exactly how important those things are.

This is not simply an abstract intellectual exercise, either: thinking carefully about why you do what you do can help you to figure out if how you are doing it is really adequate. With this in mind, in today’s article we will revisit the topic of why, exactly, property inspections are so important.

Reason #1: Cleanliness

Some people never learn to clean up after themselves. Sadly, some of them grow up to become your tenants—past, present, and future. The fact of the matter is that you can’t always reliably weed these people out in the selection process, either. Not all references are as honest as they should be, and not every former landlord or property manager will have the best records on hand.

Move-out inspections are important for dealing with the consequences of a tenant like this, so that you can start your next tenant off with a clean place in which to live. Long before move-out inspections, though, you should be able to identify messy tenants with routine inspections, and possibly even with drive-by inspections, depending on the nature and extent of the mess. You can even use move-in inspections to communicate to tenants how important it is to take care of the place where they are going to be living.

A digital property management app offers an excellent way to optimize inspections so that you can be more sure to catch all of the messes. Don’t leave things to memory or chance, either: use next inspection alerts to make sure you check in on something next time.

Reason #2: Damage and Other Hazards

Damage may be due to tenants’ carelessness, an unfortunate but not unreasonable accident, or wear and tear from age. Sooner or later, everything wears out and breaks down, and when it does it can pose significant hazards to the well-being of your tenants.

Moreover, there are non-damage-related hazards to think about. Lead paint and asbestos are some of the most obvious, but what about bad wiring? It’s important to make sure that you are aware of any hazards as soon as possible.

Use a digital property management app to keep track of various parts of the house you need to inspect for hazards. If you find a hazard, be sure to let your app organize your schedule for you so that you can get a specialist out there to handle it as soon as possible. You can even use the app to share information about the issue with the maintenance person.

Reason #3: People

Fundamentally, property management is all about people, not property. After all, the whole point of managing the property is so that tenants can live on it, and it is managed primarily on behalf of the owner. What this means is that good people skills are important, and that is where conducting good inspections and promptly sending the results to your clients comes in.

With a digital property management app, it has never been easier to conduct a complete inspection. All you have to do is go down the checklist, take a few photos and perhaps a video at need, and then send it off to the client. The app will auto-format the data you have entered, turning out a magnificent report for your client.