Believe it or not, renting in Australia can come with a lot of stresses that don’t involve actually paying for the rental property!
A major factor of stress for many people is the regular inspection by your property manager or even prior from a real estate agent.
The property inspection can lead to ensuring your bond is kept and, in some cases, ensuring your lease is renewed. However, there’s no need to fear, as we’ve prepared a list of things to do to assist you in preparing for an inspection of your rental property.
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Get connectedMake Yourself Property Inspection Ready
To prepare for a rental inspection, you will need to ensure you know exactly when that will be. Ask your rental provider if you are unaware or re-read your rental agreement or lease agreement.
Bear in mind that property managers, property owners, and agents are required by law to provide at least 24 hours notice before an inspection but most will give you at least a week’s minimum notice, as per the Residential Tenancies Act.
Now that you have a time frame, you can begin preparing as soon as possible. Getting into the habit of cleaning/repairing things now rather than doing so with the inspection right around the corner. It is much easier to progressively check things off with a rental inspection checklist rather than do it all in one flurry.
Be Honest with Your Property Manager
At the end of the day, your rental isn’t going to be perfect, and your property manager will know this. Some things are out of your control and you have to be upfront with the one handling the tenancy of the property, especially for maintenance issues.
Anything noticeable or anything that may have permanent damage should be clarified with your manager before the rental property inspection, filing a condition report as you see fit on the prior condition of the property.
Condition Report Criteria
This can range from holes in walls, mould, sizable stains, dampness etc. which can all be preventable prior but should be clarified beforehand if that’s the case.
Assess Every Room
It’s easy to ensure the main aspects are routine inspection ready, but also take into consideration items you wouldn’t normally consider.
Inspecting your walls, floorboards, exhaust fans, and light fittings to name a few are crucial during the inspection report. Make sure to mark down any wear and tear cracks, creaky floorboards and loose cables in your lighting.
Other aspects can be in your sinks and plumbing, making sure your taps are working and drains are all clear, as grime can build up over time. Bring these up with the rental provider to adjust and fix them at a later date to get them into good condition.
Nuisances like cobwebs and dust don’t need to be cleaned thoroughly for an inspection, but give them a quick wipe over, as well as other minor things ranging from the light switches, to smoke alarms, bin areas and especially the window sills.
Keep Yourself Calm
As renters, a rental inspection is nothing to panic about or keep you up at night thinking of all the things you need to prepare, all bearing you’ve been given days’ notice.
Most likely it will last about 10-15 minutes and will mainly focus on any major grievances if any that you can tick off with a rental inspection checklist.
There is ultimately no need to stress, just ensure your place is cleaned up, and your rental property is dressed to impress and relax.
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