I wanted to give a bit of information to our landlords with regard to the difference between a routine and an outgoing inspection.
When we conduct a routine inspection, we are there for a shorter period than when we do an outgoing inspection. We generally do a number of routine inspections on the same morning or afternoon, meaning that we are on a schedule, to ensure that we can fit in all of the appointments. As a rule, we are generally at the house for around 15 minutes.
At a routine inspection we are checking to ensure that your tenant is looking after the home and that the property is being kept in a condition that is acceptable under the terms of the lease, both inside and outside. As the landlord, you are receiving a report from our office with a video of the property, along with any repairs or maintenance that may need to be completed.
Whilst you are just seeing the photos of the house, rest assured that we are not just walking in the door, snapping a few photos and leaving. We are entering each room, ensuring that there are no issues, checking for damage behind doors, ensuring light fittings are in place, that there is no obvious damage to the property, that the grounds and garden are being kept neat and tidy, We pay particular attention to the kitchen and bathroom areas of the home and also ensure that the tenant is not breaching any conditions of their lease, for example having an unapproved pet at the property.
What you need to remember is that when a routine inspection is completed, there are a lot of factors that can affect what we can see at the property. We cannot see behind, under or around furniture. So for example, if a tenant has spilled something on the carpet and then places a rug or a chair over this area, we are not able to see this, as we do not ask them to move furniture. The same goes for in the bedrooms, wardrobes and beds take up a lot of space and we are not able to see under or around them, so we can only go on what we see. For this reason, a routine inspection is considered a visual inspection only. In a lot of cases the tenant is also at home, which is a further distraction to us conducting this type of inspection.
When we conduct an outgoing inspection at the property, the tenant has vacated the premises entirely and we are then able to assess things entirely differently to when they were in occupation. We take the original condition report to the property with us and we check this off, to ensure that the property is left as close to when the tenant went in as possible. Fair wear and tear is allowed at the property and if you want to read about how this is assessed you can read my blog about it here – http://www.tinacase.com.au/2019/01/10/what-is-fair-wear-and-tear/
We are also at the property for a much more extended period of time, without distractions of a tenant being home. This allows us to conduct a much more thorough inspection of the property. Things that might be able to be hidden during a routine inspection, cannot be hidden at an outgoing, meaning we may pick up things that were not able to be seen during the tenancy.
Another thing to remember is that moving house is hard. Very often when a tenant is moving out of the house, they can get well and truly over the cleaning that needs to be done and may not bother with leaving things in the best possible way, but rather choose to have our office arrange for their final cleaning to be done by a cleaner after they have vacated. This may not even be in their plan, but circumstances dictate that this is the decision that they make at the last minute. We will then arrange for a cleaner to go into the property and finish off any cleaning that has not been done. This is a common situation that we see when someone is vacating a property.
In most cases, we are able to have a tenant rectify any cleaning or damage issues at the property reasonably easily and the majority of tenants approve to pay for this from their bond. There are the occasions where negotiations break down and things progress further, meaning that it may go through to the Consumer, Trade and Tenancy Tribunal. This only happens in a minority of cases and our office does not have to do this very often. In the last 12 months we have only been to the CTTT once and it was not for outgoing repairs or cleaning.
The other thing to keep in mind is that our office is the facilitator of this work. We have not lived in the premises and we have not been the ones to leave a property in an unclean condition. It is appreciated when a landlord understands fully the position that our office holds during this transaction and does not choose to hold any of the staff in the office responsible for the decisions made by your tenant.
If you have any concerns with regard to this blog, you can contact me at the office on 63525125.
