CHAPTER 7 Regular Inspections
Earlier in this book, I talked about the importance of checking on your property regularly, or doing “mini inspections.” You might be wondering why this is an issue, especially since you’ve already gone through the screening process, weeded out the “bad apples,” avoided the major red flags, and created a rock-solid lease. So, what’s to worry about? Let me explain.
PROPERTY DAMAGE
Imagine that you have a problem with your property. There’s a small plumbing leak leaking water into your house, into the walls, and causing extensive—and expensive—damage to the point where you’re going to have to replace the drywall, as well as some of the wood in the flooring to avoid rot. Sometimes, maintenance issues in a home just happen; in some cases, they’d occur with you living there. But other times, tenants are responsible for mistakes, property damage, and the ensuing repairs. If this was the tenant’s fault, and they didn’t tell you about the big leak, you’ll end up with thousands upon thousands of dollars required for damage repair. Let me ask you a question: If the house you’re living in right now had this issue, would you rather know about it today, so you could deal with it and fix the issue sooner rather than later, or would you rather learn about the issue six months from now? The answer is pretty obvious, but this illustrates exactly why you need to check on your property regularly while you’re renting it out even to the most seemingly perfect tenant. You don’t need 60
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