Inspections
With our latest technology, you are able to access a copy of all inspections completed on your property throughout the year.
Entry Inspection
Prior to the new tenant(s) moving in, a thorough inspection is completed. At Housingplus, we have a few things we do a little different which we believe provides better peace of mind for our investors and tenants alike.
- Video – a thorough video walk through is first completed by our staff before the new tenants arrive.
- Written Report – on the first day of tenancy, one of our staff goes through with the tenant(s) and completes a thorough written report via our property management software Palace using their ipad/iphone.
- CLEAN* test – if the tenant requests, we are able to conduct a spray and wipe test which we find is particularly important in bathrooms and kitchens. It gives the tenants peace of mind to know that a surface is free of any dirt, food, grease or soap residue.
- Entry Inspection Declaration – immediately after the written report is completed, we print this off on site for our tenant(s) to sign agreeing that we have conducted a thorough inspection and the report accurately details this.
We have found that by combining these four methods that we have very satisfied tenants and a thorough record both parties can rely on at the end of a tenancy to ensure a fair and accurate exit inspection can occur. Previously we have found that written inspection reports and photos can be grossly inaccurate and what one person will interpret as tidy, another could view as filthy.
Please see below a copy of our Entry Inspection report as well as a video snippet of one of our Entry Inspection walk throughs.
In-term Inspection
We believe in minimising tenants disruption as much as possible and we have found that we only need to conduct one thorough in-term inspection every year. We do this between the months of June to August of every year as we find this is the most successful time because it is between 4 to 6 months after a new tenancy has begun and right in the heart of the winter months which is crucial for ensuring proper ventilation is occurring.
The in-term inspection uses the same entry inspection report template so we also look for any new damages during this thorough annual inspection. This can take us anywhere between 15 – 45 minutes per property.
Insurance Inspection
3 months after the in-term inspection in October – November of every year, we conduct a brief no cost insurance inspection to ensure the property is fulfilling the obligations of your insurance policy. We do however still look for general signs that compliance with the tenancy agreement is still occurring eg. reasonable state of cleanliness, ventilation, curtains drawn etc.
Because the insurance inspection involves minimal checking and note taking compared to the more comprehensive in-term inspection, we take this opportunity to conduct a video walk through. We do this to give you a look inside each of your properties at least once a year without having to physically leave your own home! We find this is a great service for our out of town and overseas investors.
Not only does this provide you with an accurate depiction of how your property is looking to date but we have found videos helpful with addressing maintenance. We are able to send a video along with our work order to the trade person before they visit which often results in a cheaper call out fee.
As an investor it is also confirmation that your property manager has indeed viewed the property and has completed a thorough inspection of your property. Auckland Property Management conducts quarterly routine inspections through your property and you will receive a personal video for each.
Please see below an example of our insurance inspection video walk through as well as a copy of our Insurance inspection report.
Pre-Viewing/Exit Inspection
This is another free inspection we can conduct for every tenancy. We only ever use these kinds of inspections for either any inexperienced student flats or problematic tenancies. The benefits of conducting pre-viewing/exit inspection for these kinds of tenancies is:
- Great Presentation for Viewings: We will be particularly focusing on what makes the flat attractive to people who come to viewings. Everybody wins if the property is looking as attractive as possible from the very first viewing. One example of a win for everyone is great presentation will increase the number of people who apply for a flat. The more applications we get at the first viewing the greater the chance that we will not need to do any further viewings.
- Maintenance: Because we have zero days vacancy between tenancies changing over, we need to work with the tenants to pre-book any jobs which might need completed before their end date such as carpet cleans, cleaners, minor maintenance, minor property improvements etc. We may choose to repaint and/or install new flooring. It helps to have an in-person discussion to explore with tenants the best timing for this kind of work bearing in mind they might be away during holidays.
- Tenancy End Date: for various reasons it may be helpful to the tenants if we advertise the flat to have a start date that can be negotiated. For example, It may be that they will secure a new property prior to their tenancy end date and that the tenants we choose want to start earlier. This then saves the tenants paying double rent.
- Clarifying the Standard for the Final Inspection: It’s important that tenants are clear about the standard of cleanliness of the areas of their flat at the beginning of their tenancy. For example: (quoted from your property inspection report)
CLEAN*= when firmly wiped with Pine O’ clean Wipes (or other equivalent branded wipe) no dirt, food, grease or soap residue was present on the wipe afterwards.
Exit Inspection
4-8 weeks before a tenancy ends, we email and post out the final vacate documents which includes:
- A copy of the Entry Inspection Report
- Final Rent Statement
- Cleaning Checklist
- Common Bond Deduction Information Sheet
In the covering letter detailing the date and time of the exit inspection, we offer the tenants the opportunity to have their Exit inspection a few days before their end date letting them know that the advantage of this is that there would be the opportunity to reduce bond deductions if there is any additional cleaning to be done as there would be time for them to address these issues themselves over the last few days of their tenancy.
Our break down of common bond deductions is also extremely helpful as this gives tenants an idea well in advance as to what repairs might cost and also gives them the opportunity to seek their own quotes.
We encourage any bond holders to be present at the exit inspection because where at all possible, we like to try and work out a fair deductible cost to come out of the bond in person without having to spend the time obtaining physical quotes. Of course, this can sometimes mean, we undercharge but after years of negotiating at Exit inspections with tenants our investors have saved on money not involving the Tenancy Tribunal or the extra vacant days you might need between tenancies to allow for the tenants and us to obtain quotes and then have the work remedied.
On the off chance it is not possible to reasonably negotiate with the tenants due to a bad tenancy, we will take legal action and apply to the tenancy tribunal.
It is however our experience though that it is not worth going to tenancy tribunal thinking you will get rewarded full replacement costs of damages to your property as the adjudicators often favour the tenants and depreciation value needs to be taken into account.
Please see below a copy of our Exit Inspection report.