Rental Property Inspection – To Do Or Not To Do, And Why?
Rental property inspections are something that a lot of our investors wonder about. Do you need them? Don’t you? When do you need them and who should perform these inspections? I get this question a lot – should I have my investment property inspected before I rent it out to a tenant? So I tell these people that this is not quite the question they should be asking, as I explain in this video.
When to get a rental property inspection.
There is no particular value in getting a property inspection of a home you’ve just bought. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you’ve done the smart thing and bought a brand new single family home. Since this is a new home, it comes complete with a new everything and there is nothing that really needs your attention.
However, if you asked me whether you should get a home inspection before buying a property, I would say that this idea has some merit. Getting a professional to inspect property before buying it could help identify any issues with it. If so, you could approach the builder/ seller with those issues to help rectify them. In this case, that property inspection would be a good idea.
To get a property inspection done after buying your investment home and before renting it out is a little superfluous in my opinion. It is also usually unnecessary to get your property inspected after one tenant leaves and before the next one takes over.
What kind of rental property inspection do you need?
As I said above, probably the most sensible time to get a property inspection is before buying your investment property. A professional will inspect the property for $300-$400, and that money could well be worth it, especially if it helps you detect issues and rectify them before you buy the house.
In a lot of cases, even this may not be necessary because the local broker will usually inspect the property on a walkthrough. With their trained eye they would be able to inspect the property more thoroughly and identify issues/ potential issues better than most buyers would. And later, when you're ready to hand over your property to the next tenant when your existing tenant vacates, your property manager will be able to assess the property for you. Again, here, their insight and experience will count for a lot. They will be able to tell you whether you need to make changes or repairs, or whether the place needs some paint or sprucing up before the next tenant moves in.
To conclude, there is no one size fits all solution when it comes to getting a rental property inspection for your investment home. There aren't too many scenarios that actually justify the spending of several hundred dollars for an inspection. However, if this is something that buys you peace of mind, go for it by all means!
Check out my video on this topic for more details. In fact if there are other questions you have about investing in real estate, our property expo may be just the thing for you – register for free and know more about our Remote Control Retirement Riches formula.