What does a letting agent actually look for during a property inspection?
Last week, I went out to carry out another batch of routine property inspections across some of the rental properties we manage.
At one of them, the property was clean. The alarms were working. There were no signs of mould or mildew. Nothing was damaged.
The front garden, however, was looking a little sorry for itself.
There was a car that had been parked under a cover for quite some time and weeds had started growing around it.
As it happened, I had a bottle of weed killer in the back of my car that I'd bought for one of the HMOs we manage.
So I sprayed the weeds.
Was that technically the purpose of my visit?
No.
Will "estate agent sprayed weeds" appear on our management agreement?
Probably not.
But I was there. The weed killer was there. The weeds were there.
It seemed unnecessarily complicated to organise a meeting between the three of them at a later date.
And actually, it got me thinking about property inspections and what a managing agent should really be doing when they visit a landlord's property.
Because it should be considerably more than walking through the front door, taking six photographs and ticking a box that says "Property satisfactory."
We're Not There to Judge How Someone Lives
Firstly, I think it's important to make a distinction.
We're not inspecting how the tenant lives. We're inspecting how the property is being treated. There is a difference.
Some people are incredibly minimalist.
Some people have a lot of belongings.
Some people make their bed every morning.
Some clearly believe a duvet should be allowed to express itself freely.
That's not really our concern.
What we're looking for is whether there is anything happening within the property that could represent a breach of the tenancy, a safety concern, a maintenance issue or a future cost to the landlord.
And after carrying out property inspections for years, you develop a fairly automatic routine.
Alarms First
One of the first things we check is the smoke alarms.
Where applicable, we'll also check the carbon monoxide alarms.
Yes, tenants have responsibilities regarding testing alarms during the tenancy. But if we're physically standing in the property with a test button approximately six feet above our head, it seems slightly ridiculous not to press it.
So we check them.
Are they present?
Do they sound?
Can we identify whether the alarm has reached or is approaching the end of its recommended lifespan?
Only last week, during one of our inspections, I found that a ground-floor smoke alarm was missing.
The tenant wasn't aware of one ever being there.
I went back to the original inventory.
There it was.
At some point during the tenancy, decorating had taken place and it appears the alarm had been removed and never put back.
That's exactly the sort of thing a property inspection should identify.
Not six months later.
Not when the tenant moves out.
And certainly not after an incident.
Then We're Looking for Mould and Moisture
This has become an increasingly important part of property management.
We're actively looking for visible signs of mould, mildew, condensation and excess moisture.
Bathrooms are an obvious place to start.
Is the extractor fan working?
Is it switched on?
Is there evidence of persistent condensation?
We're looking at bedrooms and external walls.
We're looking at how furniture is positioned.
Only recently, I visited a property where washing appeared to be regularly dried in a basement bedroom with limited ventilation.
There wasn't a significant mould problem at the time.
But you don't need to be a building surveyor to look at wet washing + basement room + limited ventilation and think:
"This could become a problem."
So we spoke to the tenant.
Open the window.
Improve the ventilation.
Ideally, don't dry large amounts of washing in that particular room.
A five-minute conversation today could potentially avoid a considerably more expensive mould treatment later.
That's the point of an inspection.
Experience Means You Are Always Looking
The difficult thing about explaining property inspections is that a lot of what we do becomes subconscious.
I can walk into a property and have a conversation with a tenant while simultaneously looking around the room.
Has the property been redecorated?
Was permission given?
Are there signs of a pet?
Is there damage?
Is furniture packed tightly against an external wall?
Are there any unusual smells?
Is there evidence of smoking?
Are windows opening correctly?
Are there signs of a leak?
Has something changed since the previous inspection?
We're not creeping around the house with a magnifying glass.
Experience just teaches you what to look for.
Sometimes an inspection might only take five or ten minutes because everything is absolutely fine.
That's a good thing.
The value isn't measured by how long we can awkwardly stand in someone's lounge.
The value is knowing what you're looking for while you're there.
And Sometimes We Check the Boiler Pressure
Particularly during the colder months, if there's a gas boiler at the property, we'll generally have a quick look at the boiler pressure where practical.
Again, we're already there.
If the pressure is obviously low and it's a straightforward system we're familiar with, we may be able to top it up.
Or we can at least flag the issue before the tenant suddenly contacts us one freezing evening to say the boiler isn't working.
Not every maintenance problem can be prevented.
Boilers will break.
Pipes will leak.
Window hinges will fail.
Apparently, overflow pipes also occasionally decide to run continuously down the side of a carport.
That was another inspection last week.
But the sooner you identify a problem, generally, the easier it is to deal with.
Photographs Matter
Every inspection we carry out is recorded through our inventory and inspection system.
We take photographs.
We create a report.
And the landlord has something tangible showing the condition of their property.
Because an email saying:
"All fine."
isn't particularly useful.
Landlords want to see their investment.
Particularly landlords who live outside North Devon or who haven't visited the property for several years.
They want to see the kitchen.
The bathroom.
The garden.
The general decorative condition.
And, importantly, those photographs create an ongoing record of the property.
We can look back.
We can compare.
We can see whether an issue is getting worse.
A good inspection report isn't just about what the property looks like today. It's about creating a history of its condition.
Finding the Problem Is Only Half the Job
This is perhaps the most important bit.
There is absolutely no point carrying out a brilliant property inspection, identifying seven maintenance issues, creating a beautiful report...
…and then doing nothing.
Last week's inspections identified, amongst other things, a missing smoke alarm, expired alarms at another property, a faulty window hinge, an overflowing pipe, concerns about drying washing in a poorly ventilated room and a garden that needed attention.
Those issues were reported.
Landlords were contacted.
Where authorised, contractors were instructed.
That's property management.
The inspection identifies the issue.
The management is making sure something happens next.
Property Management Isn't Just Collecting the Rent
I think sometimes there is a perception that a managing agent collects the rent, deducts their fee and sends the balance to the landlord.
If that's all your managing agent is doing, I can understand why management fees might seem expensive.
But proper property management should be proactive.
It should involve physically visiting the property.
Knowing what you're looking at.
Identifying small problems.
Keeping records.
Advising tenants.
Updating landlords.
And getting maintenance dealt with before a £100 problem becomes a £1,000 problem.
Sometimes it even involves spraying a few weeds because the weed killer happens to be in the back of your car.
No additional management fee was charged for horticultural services.
You're welcome.
When Was Your Rental Property Last Properly Inspected?
If you own a rental property in North Devon, ask yourself a simple question:
When did someone last physically walk through the property and properly look at it?
Not visit to carry out a viewing.
Not let a contractor through the front door.
Not complete a gas safety certificate.
Actually inspect the property.
At Collyers Estate Agents, routine property inspections form an important part of how we manage rental properties.
We check.
We photograph.
We report.
And when something needs dealing with, we deal with it.
If you're a landlord in Barnstaple, Bideford, Ilfracombe or across North Devon and you're not entirely sure what's currently happening inside your rental property, perhaps it's time for a conversation.
Collyers Estate Agents – award-winning lettings and property management in North Devon.
