Periodic Rental Home Inspections

Some People Dream of having a passive income from a rental company... but don't want the hassle of checking in on the rental.

Our Home inspection company also performs:

Pre-purchase Inspection for Rental purposes
Post purchase inspection for optimizing rental income
Periodical Contract Visits on a Rental Property (Bi-weekly or Monthly)

We thoroughly inspect your rental home for maximum profits!

Here is Why You Should contract periodic rental inspections and inspect a property prior to purchase for the purpose of rental income:

Prior to Purchase

If you are requesting a property inspection prior to purchase for the purpose of using this property for rental income purposes you will require to add the Rental Property assessment to the regular property inspection you are booking for. This will include all the components of a property home inspection along with the added components that makes a rental property potential maximized.

Reveal Illegal Additions or Installation to the Property

An inspection can reveal if the rooms, garages, or basements were designed without a proper permit. Our inspection will not confirm if a permit was taken on the extensions, but we can identify poor building practices and incorrect building procedures. If a house has room additions with no permit, it affects the insurance, taxes, usability, and most of all the value.

In point of fact, a buyer is purchasing something that legally does not exist. Even new homes with systems that were not installed to code will become the new homeowners’ financial problems to fix.

After Purchase

If You Have a Tenant who isn’t Treating the Property with Respect

Catching problems early, before they get to the point of no return, can save you a whole bunch of money as a rental owner.

For example, one of the things I recommend is a Property Inspection at about the 4-month mark. If the tenant isn’t taking care of the property, you can serve them up with a lease violation. Either they fix the damage, or you fix it and charge them. The big thing in rentals is to build a relationship with your renter - so that they know your expectations and that you are on top of things. Sometimes, some people - just don't have time to do this.

The important thing is to let them know that’s not the wild, wild West, and that you are watching. We want to know if a tenant is abusing the property. In such cases, they don’t want us over there to see the damage. On the annual inspection, we examine the condition of the property. We check for any maintenance needed and see how well the tenant is taking care of the property.

Then we set up a program to visit the rental a minimum of 3 times a year, about every four months. These visits will be scheduled in accordance with local laws for notifying a renter in Alberta, as well as with the attendance of the renter. Setting up regular visits keeps the renter knowing the value and importance this property holds for the owner. Again, the key aspect is to build a relationship with them. A written report of current conditions will be given after each visit.

Most Rental Property Owners simply want to cash the monthly rental, and not deal with the renters. MOST ALL NOVICE property owners think that 'NO NEWS' from the renter is Good News.... this is simply false. A Rental Property you own requires continual visits and inspections.

Our checklist

Our Rental Property Checklist covers all the electrical, plumbing, heat and air, cosmetics, appliances, and other types of issues on the rental unit. There is a list of items that are requirements specific to rental housing that you must also address. Here is a short but incomplete list:

If the rental property has older wood-frame windows, they must all lock and stay open of their own accord. Windows can not be sealed shut.
The discharge line on the hot-water tank needs to be copper, galvanized steel, or CPVC that is properly rated for temperature and pressure.
Three-prong outlets must be grounded.
The unit cannot have any chipped or peeling paint.
Lack of locks and deadbolts on exterior doors.
Chipped or flaking paint, especially in homes where children reside.
Insufficient smoke detectors on each level of the property.
Missing or inadequate window screens.
Improper pressure release valves on hot water heaters and boilers.
Non-functioning smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
Presence of exposed asbestos.
Unsealed or improperly weatherproofed windows or doors.
Lack of handrails on both interior and exterior stairs.
Poor caulking around tubs or showers.
Inadequate bathroom ventilation or lack of a fan.
Absence of window locks on first-floor windows.
Everything in the house must work. This is an overarching rule. For example, all windows must open and close properly. There is a very long list of these sorts of things.
All the light fixtures must have light bulbs.
Doors and windows must be adequately sealed. No daylight around doors. The windows must stay open by themselves (i.e., not require a prop to keep them open). If the windows have screens, the screens must be in good repair.
Ventless gas heaters are not acceptable in any living space. If the house is heated by wall-mounted electrical heaters, you must also have baseboard heaters.
The house cannot have chipped or peeling paint.
All the appliances must be in the house. They must all be in working order. If the tenant is providing the appliances, they must be in the house at the time of the inspection.
All the utilities must be turned on.
The inspector cannot pass an inspection if they see live roaches on the rental unit.
Toilets cannot be loose.
The temperature/pressure relief valve on the hot water tank must have a pipe for water to escape if necessary. The pipe must be a material that will not degrade with heat.
All bedrooms must have one closet, and in addition, must have at least one window.
There must not be any openings around the outside of the house in which an animal could climb under the house or get inside the walls.
Water fixtures and toilets must not leak.
Porches or steps must have handrails if they are more than 18 inches off the ground.
You can’t have electrical receptacles that are dead. If those receptacles are three-pronged, they must be properly grounded. The field inspectors will have a tester, and they will test them all. All electrical receptacles must be secured to the wall.
Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list. If this looks like a lot to wrap your head around, you are right. Maybe you could use some help. There are many others on the list as this is just a sample of the types of items that require continual observance.

Tenants Love Clean, Safe, and Affordable Homes... Here are the Best Upgrades For Rentals:

Sheet Rock Drywall: Repairing is Easy Even if Tenants Do Anything Wrong

If you have a house full of wood paneling, plan on tearing it out and hanging new sheetrock. Paneling makes the house look dark. Most people don’t like wood paneling because it makes the house look outdated. In addition, if your tenants put holes in the paneling, you cannot repair it. It’s fairly easy to repair holes in the sheetrock.
When you are going to install sheetrock on exterior walls, make sure you insulate behind the wall. If you don’t want to tear down the sheetrock, you can drill a hole in the wall and blow-in insulation.
Do your electrical and plumbing work first. Once these are done, then you can close up the walls.

If it is an older house with lath and plaster walls, you can repair the walls, skim coat where necessary, and texture before painting.

Upgrade Painting: No One Loves Unattractive House

If you have some marked-up walls, you may not have to do a complete repaint. The best fix is if the wall can be scrubbed clean. If the walls aren’t painted with semi-gloss, this isn’t likely to work. If you have to touch-up paint, the paint needs to be a close match or it’s going to look terrible. That’s why it’s a good idea to leave the leftover paint in the house when you are done painting. And, use semi-gloss paint on the walls.
Use high-quality paint. Select a uniform color to use in every house and every room. If you try to match the paint, they are always just a little off the true color.
For the Interior, Use a Two-tone Color Scheme, One Color for the Trim, and One Color for the Walls.
Again, use semi-gloss paint, which is easy to touch up and clean. Walls painted with flat paint will not be cleaned up easily. Pick a wall, trim and door paint color that you will use on every property. That way, you can easily touch up the paint when the renter moves.
Paint the ceilings white. That will brighten the room because it will reflect more light onto all the surfaces.
Use one supplier for your paint. You will need to get good technical advice from your supplier on some trickier jobs from time to time.
Use an oil-based paint or latex paint that is both paint and primer for exterior painting. This way, you won’t need to use a primer in most cases. That will cut your labor cost because they will only need to apply one coat.

Provide Best Flooring for Tenants: Gives Welcoming Vibe

Different flooring types include ceramic tile, vinyl tile, wood laminate, hardwood flooring, and carpets in rental properties.

Carpets In Rental Properties

If you are going to install a carpet, don’t spend a fortune buying high-grade carpet. Work off the assumption that it will only last for one tenant before it needs replacement.
Most of the time carpets can be steam cleaned between tenants. You would be surprised at some of the stains I’ve seen come out of the carpet with a good carpet cleaner. The exception is the pet smell, especially cat urine. Steam cleaning will not remove the pet smell most of the time. In fact, it often makes it worse because it mobilizes the organic chemicals that create the smells in the pad. You can remove and replace the carpet and pad. If it’s an older carpet that has seen its better days, that’s the best approach. If it still has some life, it’s possible to remove those odors.

Hardwood Floors In Rental Properties

Hardwood floors are great for rental properties. All it takes is one careless tenant with a mangy cat to ruin $2,000 worth of carpet. Hardwood flooring can take a lot of abuse. In the worst case, you will have to refinish it. Have as little carpet in your rental property as possible. Dirty, soiled carpets are unacceptable even in low-income rentals. Wood and tile flooring is easier to maintain and can take a lot of abuse. This is one of the most popular upgrades for your rental property. However, be careful of renters with large dogs and hard floors.
Instead of sanding your hardwood floors, you can often just buff the floor with a commercial floor buffer to remove grime and build-up. Use a coarse scrubbing pad to fit the buffer, a little Comet cleaner, and water. Once you are done with the buffer, mop up the mess. When the floor is dry, wipe it again with mineral spirits. Sometimes the floor will need to be stained, but most of the time you can just apply one or two coats of polyurethane. Your handyman or clean-up crew should be able to handle all this for you.

Vinyl Tile or Vinyl Wood Planking In Rental Properties

There are many different types of vinyl tile, including vinyl plank, commercial vinyl tile, sheet linoleum, and peel and stick.
The most common type of vinyl tile is the vinyl plank. Vinyl plank has a wood look and comes in a variety of colors. Among vinyl tiles, I think it looks the best. It’s durable, and a very good flooring for any area of the house. It needs to be installed in a warm room and surface. If not, the adhesive will not bond properly, and the flooring will peel up. And, if the tenant damages some of the tiles, they can be replaced rather than having to retile the entire room.
Commercial vinyl tile is durable but does not have a great look. And, if the tenant doesn’t buff out the flooring, it won’t have that shine that you see in stores with that type of flooring.
We install sheet linoleum sometimes in small spaces such as bathrooms.
Peel and stick tile is the least expensive vinyl tile, and the easiest to install. However, it also has a cheap look. This definitely will upgrade your rental property.

Light Fixtures: Updating your Lighting is Worth the Investment

Install new lighting fixtures as needed. Ceiling fans are nice in some common areas, but not needed throughout the house. Ceiling fans are a must in the master bedroom.
Spotlights are a nice touch, such as in the kitchen. I recommend the type with ordinary bulbs.