8 Critical Move-In Inspection Photos

The Pre-Move In Inspection

In today's video in the Property Management Trifecta series, we're going to go over the most important things that you need to do at a pre-move in inspection at your rental property. These are some things that you're going to want to do right now—they’re going to take a little bit of extra time during this pre-move in inspection, but it's going to save you a lot of time later on when the residents are in the property, and when you're doing the security deposit disposition and getting ready to turn the property over. So, we're going to go over a few photos that you're going to want to take and some other tips and tricks in this video.

1. Appliance Labels

The first thing you're going to want to do is take pictures of all the appliance labels in the property. These are all the kitchen appliances: refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, things like that. Also, the furnace, water heater, any softeners, etc. These will come in handy so if you need to order parts for them later on, you’ll have the label with the model and serial number. Or if you need to get an appliance repairman to the property, you can give them the brand and the model so that they can be prepared before they get to the property.

2. Filters

If you have any type of air filter or water filter at your property, you'll want to take a picture of each one. Be sure to get a picture of the filter itself, as wall as the label.  That way you'll know the brand, size and part number, so that later on when purchasing filters, you don't have to go to the property to get this information. This is also helpful if you have a vendor or resident changing the filters. You can just shoot them a copy of that photo, and they will know which filters to purchase beforehand.

3. Paint Labels

If you recently painted the property, it's a good idea to get a photo of the paint can and the label so that if you need to do touch-ups, you’ll know the brand, color, and sheen that was used. Everything will be right there in the photo, nice and easy to access. In the future, you’ll be able to send it over to someone by text if you need to get it to the resident, or a vendor, or access it when you’re at the paint store.

4. Utility Shutoffs

We like to get a photograph of the main water shut-off for the house, as well as any shut-offs under sinks, toilets, and other fixtures. This comes in handy if there is a maintenance emergency and you need to instruct the resident on how to shut the water off at the property. You’ll know exactly where the shutoff is, what it looks like, and the type of valve. It could be a ball valve, gate valve or something different, so it's nice to have that photo to send to the resident to walk them through the process over the phone if needed.

5. Breaker Panel

Another idea is to get a photo of the breaker box. Take a step back to capture the location, then get closer and take one of the panel itself with all the breakers. You’ll want to make sure you can see the label clearly, which breakers operate what parts of the house. You’ll also want to make sure can see how many breakers there are, if there are any GFI breakers present. This will come in very handy if you happen to have a maintenance emergency later on at the property, you can so a bit of troubleshooting remotely from the photos.

6. Electric and Gas Meters

If there are electric and gas meters at the property, grab a photo of each. These come in handy when you're trying to transfer utilities. Often the utility companies have a hard time locating the service with just the property address, so having that meter number is very helpful. We again like to take two photos-- one stepping back a little bit so you see the location of the meter(s), and then one a little bit closer so that you can see the actual meter numbers themselves.

7. Fuel Levels

If you have any type of fuel tank at the property, you’ll want to get a photo of the fuel level, so you know how much is there at move-in. That way at move-out, if the fuel is expected be left at the same level, it will be nice and easy to reference the photo as a record.

8. GFI Outlets

The final set of photos would be any GFI outlets in the property. These are the outlets that have the test and reset buttons on built in, and they're usually located in kitchens and bathrooms, or anywhere where there's a source of water. These photos are handy so that if a resident calls you up with a partial power outage, perhaps maybe the kitchen is out, often times the culprit is a GFI outlet. So you can let them know exactly where it’s located, and walk them through a reset.

Videos

Another strategy you may want to employ, is taking some videos while you're at the property. These are very helpful in maintenance emergencies, so here are a few of the videos that we like to take when we're at the property.

1. Resetting Breakers

First, is a quick tutorial on how to reset breakers. Often people are not aware that the breaker is actually tripped, because it’s not visibly in the off position when tripped. Additionally, you’ll need to push it all the way to the off position, then back on to reset it. So, we like to shoot a quick video showing how to reset a breaker properly so that we can send that over to a resident if there's ever an issue.

2. Resetting GFIs

The second video is how to reset a GFI outlet. So again, those are the outlets with the reset buttons, and we like to shoot a quick tutorial on how to test and reset them.

3. Water Shutoffs

It’s a good practice to shoot a video showing how to shut off any water, particularly the main, just in case there are any leaks. You may want to do each individual shut off under sinks and toilets, but typically the main is the most important video.

4. Filter Changes

If you have any filters at the property, show how to do a filter change. Again just a quick video on how to shut off the water, remove the filter, and put the new one in. This will be very helpful if the resident ever has to do a filter change later on.

5. Winter Preparation

Finally, if there's any sort of winter maintenance that needs to be done at the property, a quick video will be helpful. Some properties require plugging in heat tape, draining hose bibs or draining sprinkler systems. This video will come in handy if you need to send it to the resident, or if you hire someone else to do, you can send them a quick video so they know how to do it, the locations of all the shut offs and all of the particulars.

Summary

So I hope that this video was helpful. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out-we'd love to speak with you and help you get your property running smoothly.

Cheers!