As a Denver real estate investor, you may wonder “how often should I inspect my property?”
Every month?
Every year?
Never unless I’m informed of a problem?
At Grace Property Management, we’ve inspected a lot of properties, and can offer you some guidance in regards to how often a property should be inspected. Here are the rules our Denver property management firm follows, and have found to be very effective:
Inform Applicants at the Time They Apply
While prospective tenants are applying to rent your Denver area property, it’s important that you inform them about the fact that you will be inspecting the property regularly (both exterior drive-bys and interior inspections) while they live at the property.
Why should you tell prospective tenants this fact so early on? Hopefully, it will scare the bad tenants away.
If tenants know they want to partake in activity you don’t allow at your property (such as growing marijuana in the basement), but know you as a landlord will be inspecting the property, they will hopefully choose to search for a different property to rent.
Update the Lease
If you’re going to tell prospective tenants you’ll be inspecting the property, you should also make sure the lease language reflects this fact. The lease should explicitly give you as a landlord access to the property 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you make tenants sign this lease and the language isn’t updated, it will only cause problems in the future.
Inspect the Property At Least Once Per Year
So back to the original question, how often should you inspect your Denver rental property? At the very minimum, we suggest inspecting the property one time per year during the lease term.
You can certainly inspect the property more than once per year, but we recommend inspecting the property no more than four times a year.
Why? If you inspect too often, it could be considered an infringement upon the tenant’s rights of what is called quiet enjoyment.
The tenant has a legal right of quiet enjoyment on the property. So if you inspect the property twice within the first six months, there really is no reason to inspect again for at least another six months.
Unless there is a true reason to inspect the property more often than four times a year within the lease period, we recommend sticking to that quarterly inspection timeline.
What to Look for During the Inspection of Your Denver Rental Property
If you’re going to do an inspection of your property, make sure you are inspecting the right things.
First off, you want to look for lease violations — for example additional pets or tenants not on the lease. You should also be on the lookout for potential maintenance issues that the tenant has not reported. Look for leaks in faucets, mildew buildup in the bathroom, etc.
Document the Inspection
The final thing you want to do during the inspection process is to document the inspection with pictures and a report.
During the inspection, take pictures of every room, and potential lease violations or maintenance concerns. Why? In order to protect the tenant from damage they are not responsible for, to protect the property, and to protect you as a landlord.
Simply put, the more you document, the better prepared you can be for incidents that pop up regarding the property in the future.
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If you’re inspecting on a regular basis, it will be good for the property, you as a landlord, and good for the tenant.
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