Good property management requires detailed move in inspections. If you allow a tenant to move into your rental home without a detailed inspection, that tenant could damage your property and you won’t be able to document that the property was in good condition at the time of move in. That means you won’t be able to keep any part of their security deposit, because you will have no legal basis to withhold it.

At Hillcrest Property Management, we recommend a very detailed 68-point inspection list that we use to document the current condition of the home. We take pictures of every part of the house, from the foyer to the floors of each room. Pictures are taken of the inside and outside of the refrigerator, oven range, dishwasher, and under all vanities. This shows that everything in the house is clean and functional. Then, we require the tenants to sign each picture. In our experience, it’s very important to have the home as clean as possible before a tenant moves in. The initial cleanliness of a property lets the new tenants know what you expect it to look like when they leave.

We also have tenants sign a document that informs them how much their security deposit will be changed if things in the home are damaged. This document has over 50 individual prices such as: screens $45, doors $100, picture holes in the walls $35, etc. This lets them know what we expect and what they’ll be charged if these items are left damaged or unfixed at move out.

Before tenants move into the property, we let them know that our goal is to get them their entire security deposit back, and we will work with them to get that done. A fully refunded security deposit means we are getting a house back that’s in great shape, so everybody wins.

The detailed inspection report tells the tenants that they really need to take care of the property, and the financial incentive of a returned security deposit will really ensure your high quality tenant maintains the home and treats it well.

When the tenants give their notice to move, we then give them a move out inspection that is directly related to the move in inspections. In many cases, our process results in a property that is already prepared for the rental market when our tenants move out.

If you have any questions about our process, or you’d like help establishing your own set of move in guidelines, please contact us at Hillcrest Property Management, and we’d be happy to tell you more.