Completing annual home inspections on your property will save you money on emergency repairs, deferred maintenance, and unreported issues that may seem small now but can easily grow into larger and more expensive disasters.
Home inspections allow you to ensure everything in your home is functioning the way it should, whether we’re talking about the air conditioning or the water heater. You’ll know if your roof is going to need to be replaced or if your landscaping could use an upgrade.
Home inspections will require an investment. You’ll need to pay the inspector for their time and expertise. But, it’s money well-spent because you’re potentially saving yourself thousands of dollars in repairs that you didn’t have the opportunity to catch early enough.
If you’re renting out a Las Vegas property, home inspections every year are especially important. It’s an opportunity to track the wear and tear that tenants are having on your investment. It allows you to ensure you’re renting out a safe and habitable home, and it also gives you an idea of upgrades and updates that may be helpful. When you make some minor renovations based on your home inspection, you’ll be able to increase the rent you earn. You’re also more likely to attract and place high-quality, long-term tenants.
Reasons for Your Annual Home Inspection
The most important reason to inspect your Las Vegas home annually is to save yourself some money on those expensive and frustrating emergency repairs. There are several other benefits, all of which contribute to your earnings and reduce your expenses in meaningful ways.
- Annual Inspections Allow You to Look for Safety Issues
Safety has to be a priority at your Las Vegas rental home. You may have hazards lurking that you don’t even realize, and if a tenant or a tenant’s guest is injured, you’re facing a lot of liability and potential lawsuits.
When safety inspections are part of your annual inspections, you’ll be looking for functional smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. You’ll replace batteries or the entire system if necessary. You’ll also check the locks on doors and windows. Inspect any stairs and handrails. Make sure there aren’t any fire hazards in your air filters or your dryer vents.
- Annual Inspections Promote Preventative Maintenance
Annual inspections ensure that preventative maintenance is properly kept up at your property. When you have good, well-screened tenants in place, they’ll likely do a good job of immediately reporting any maintenance issues. But, you never know what they don’t see. Or, maybe there’s a minor annoyance that they don’t think is worth a maintenance request but could actually lead to expensive repair costs when left unattended.
Your annual inspection could reveal a leaking roof, a rusty water heater, or an infestation of termites. When you take care of things like this right away, the necessary repairs will likely be less expensive than the repairs that would be required if those large maintenance issues were detected later.
Annual home inspections are generally required to make sure your property is safe, habitable, and well-maintained. But if you’re inspecting while the property is occupied by tenants, it’s also a good opportunity to ensure the lease is being followed.
It will be easy to note if there has been smoking in the home, or if pets are present. If these things are prohibited by your lease agreement, you’ll need to have a conversation with your tenants and bring them into compliance. Maybe walls have been painted without permission or unauthorized guests seem to have settled in for the long term.
All of these examples are risks that can cause you additional financial damage. You want to know what’s happening in your occupied property, and the annual inspection that you schedule with your tenant’s knowledge and understanding can deliver peace of mind and save you money on future problems.
Avoiding Emergency Maintenance
Unexpected things can happen at any time. There’s no way of knowing when your pipes will spring a leak, your toilet will back up, or your roof will have some shingles blown off. You can’t predict with total certainty when the appliances will fail or the cooling unit will malfunction.
But, when you have an annual inspection done on your home, you can reduce the likelihood of those emergencies.
Emergency maintenance issues are always expensive. They cost you more than money, they also cost you time. When you’re having preventative, annual inspections, you’re less likely to spend the rest of the year worrying about a phone call in the middle of the night from a tenant. There’s less chance you’ll have to spend thousands of dollars repairing an issue that could have been detected if eyes were on it earlier.
Increasing Las Vegas Rents with Annual Inspections
Annual inspections are rarely about cosmetics. They’re mostly about stability, functionality, safety, and habitability. But, they’re also a good opportunity to look for potential upgrades and updates. With an annual inspection showing you where there are greater signs of deterioration and wear and tear, you can make some decisions about where you want to invest in your property.
When you make cosmetic upgrades, you can earn more in rent. You can increase the overall value of your property, too.
Maybe you’ll want to consider:
- Energy efficient appliances.
- Double pane windows.
- Updated lighting.
- Smart home technology.
- Video doorbells.
- Shiny fixtures on your sinks and drawers.
- Low-maintenance landscaping.
All of these things increase the appeal of your home, making it more attractive to the sorts of tenants you want to attract. A thorough inspection every year will show you where to find the best chances to improve your home.
How to Manage Your Annual Las Vegas Property Inspection
When your annual inspection occurs while your property is occupied, be as respectful as you can to your tenants. The need for an annual inspection should be included in your lease agreement, so it shouldn’t be a total surprise.
Here are some of the best ways to ensure the inspection isn’t too invasive of your tenant’s privacy.
- Provide plenty of written notice.
Unless there’s an emergency at the property which has prompted you to conduct a full inspection, you need to provide the tenants living in your home enough proper notice that a property inspection is being scheduled. Good tenants who have understood that this is part of the lease terms they agreed to will be okay with the inspection taking place. They’ll be prepared. But, if you make sure that tenants receive ample text and email notifications and reminders of inspection appointments, they will not feel unprepared, and they will likely cooperate.
Nevada law requires a notice period of 24 hours. If you want to be a good landlord, you’ll provide more than that.
- Let tenants decide if they want to be present
Everyone is busy. Your tenants may be working full time jobs, going to school, teaching school, and raising families. If they’re comfortable with an inspection taking place while they’re out of the home, you should go ahead and schedule it. But, you should also give them the option to be there. Not all tenants will feel comfortable with people inside their home while they’re not present. Be willing to accommodate their preferences.
- Communicate about the reason for your annual inspection.
Hopefully, you have a good relationship in place with your tenants. If you discuss your plans for an inspection during the move-in process and they understand that this is part of their lease agreement, you’ll have a much easier time than if your tenants suspect that you’re simply checking up on them or trying to invade their privacy. Be willing to answer any questions they have about the motivation for this inspection or the reasons it’s necessary. Try to demonstrate how the inspection benefits them, too, since you’re looking for potential issues that may affect their living space.
- Document the entire inspection with notes and photos.
You surely understand the importance of documentation. It can protect you and your property, depending on what your inspection reveals. The inspection report should include detailed notes about what looks good and what needs additional attention. Photos are especially important, since they can provide details that a description simply cannot.
The value of annual property inspections to Las Vegas investment property owners cannot be overstated. You need to invest in a professional inspector who can conduct a thorough check of all the home’s systems and functions. You need to know where you stand and what kind of repairs might be needed to prevent larger disasters.
You might not love what’s revealed during a property inspection, but you’ll surely be grateful that you saved some money by avoiding large, messy problems that you never saw coming.
Not only do we understand the importance of annual inspections, we work hard to facilitate them with our Las Vegas property owners and our impressive team of inspectors, vendors, and contractors. We work closely with tenants as well during the entire process.
If you’d like some help with inspections or anything pertaining to Las Vegas property management, please contact us at Strawberry Property Management Las Vegas.