Inspections are a core part of Empire’s management structure. There is the one-month inspection it takes place approximately one month after the tenant’s first move into the home – and there is the six-month inspection, occurring roughly every six months of the tenancy. Both are crucial if you want to properly manage your home, but sometimes they simply are not enough.
After the one-month inspection, there could be as much as half a year before the Property Manager sets foot on the property again. A lot can change in that space of time. Six months of not mowing the lawn, no weeding, and perhaps a few too many fun projects being started and never finished is more than enough to make your investment look like a dump.
The Drive-By
To fill this enormous gap, we have the drive-by. Every month our property managers drive by all the properties in their portfolio and take a picture of the front. This picture is uploaded into a task in our software that you, the owner of the home, can access at any time.
Of course, not all of our tenants are overly enthusiastic about the idea. It can be unnerving to see a car drive up and stop right in front of your home. To prevent confusion, our property managers normally give them a heads up at the signing. The tenants don’t mind the drive-by as long as they know it is coming.
Conclusion:
While the monthly drive-by can be time-consuming, it is the only way to properly manage a home. It keeps us up to date on the condition of the home, as the outside is always the first to suffer, and lets us know if the tenancy is beginning to deteriorate.
Happy Landlording!