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The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
EP. 1393 Meatheads Inspecting Rentals: Are Your Properties Really Checked?
Wondering what those routine rental inspections are really all about? We pull back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood aspects of the rental relationship, revealing insights that both tenants and landlords need to know.
Drawing from 15 years of property management expertise, we explain why the first inspection comes at the three-month mark and what experienced agents are actually looking for beyond just cleanliness. Discover how seemingly minor issues like dusty fly screens can lead to costly replacements, and why unreported leaks can turn into structural nightmares.
Technology has transformed how inspections are conducted. We dive into how video documentation has replaced paper reports, and how our agency now implements AI for routine inspections to focus more on addressing maintenance issues rather than paperwork. For landlords with houses, learn why inspections are even more crucial - from checking gutters to crawling under houses and managing swimming pool maintenance.
Should landlords attend inspections? We weigh the benefits against potential pitfalls and share the "golden rule" every property owner needs to follow to maintain professional boundaries. Whether you're a tenant preparing for an upcoming inspection or a landlord wondering what your agent should be checking, this episode delivers practical advice to navigate routine inspections successfully and prevent costly repairs down the track.
A rental properties. They're going to get a routine inspection. Landlords what should your agent be doing? Tenants what should your agent be doing? Make sure they're not a meathead. Stay tuned, I'm the ringleader, so wake it up. Was it you that thought of the word meathead, or me?
Speaker 2:No, that's a Novak word, meathead.
Speaker 1:Like that's just. I don't know why that that's such a funny word I.
Speaker 2:I used a word a little less woke a little less woke.
Speaker 1:Um yeah, so you know it happens, claire. And today you went bang, bang, bang, bang bang with all these things that were like taboo in routine inspections. So we're like let's share this with with tenants out there and landlords out there. Your knowledge you're a property manager of 15 years expert tell us about routine inspections. What are they?
Speaker 2:first, it's a way for the agent and the owner to address any issues, have a look at how the tenants are keeping the property um any maintenance issues that may arise. Um, also it's um to look at wear and tear and future renovations that you can plan and budget for. And mainly the first one is in three months, so that first inspection is usually there to see how the tenants treat the property. Then new tenants the owner doesn't know them, um, you know the tenant also doesn't know that the relationship with the landlord so much for three months that they've only been there. So it's a way for us to meet, see how everyone's doing and address any issues right off the bat.
Speaker 2:In the beginning you can do four routine inspections per year. The landlords can do four. I feel that that might increase with these new laws. Just based on the fact that pets are going to be a lot more in properties, I feel landlords with floorboards will be concerned a lot more and just in general, people with pets you know owners that may not have approved a pet in the past are going to be really um conscious of how the tenants are keeping that property when they've got a pet inside so it's the first routine inspection.
Speaker 1:I'm'm the tenant, real estate agent's coming. What are the norms? So you just sort of give it a good once over, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so most agents will do a video of some type. Written reports are a thing of the past. If your agent's still just doing a written report, they're, you know, probably, probably. Um, yeah, those reports are inferior to video. Video you can zoom in, you can rewind, you can watch over and over, you can use it in cat. It's just way better. Um, and yeah, our agency's using ai for routine inspections as well, which is great. It helps minimise time, it correlates things easily for us and the landlord and we can focus more on addressing maintenance issues and, you know, negotiating with the tenants and arranging things, rather than typing up a report. Wow.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, wow, that's huge and um. So we're now. We're now using ai for all of our routine inspections. That's cool. Um, so what are the normal opposite, what are the trouble moments with these routine inspections, where it's like, oh, one is addressing damage and tenants not being clean.
Speaker 2:Um, our agents that come and do inspections, a lot of them are mature people, they're homeowners, they've been tenants, they've been landlords, having a trained eye to see what you were looking for. A young person. As much as we love them in our office, let's face it, sometimes their mom still cleans their room. So if they're going to do an inspection at a property, they're going to be just like. You know. Yep, looks good to me, everything's clean. Whereas our agents are looking at a lot of you know, details, attention to details, even dust, like if you're not dusting your fly screens regularly, those fly screens are going to have to be changed in six months time. The build-up of dust perishes the wire and then the landlord will have to get new fly screens. So not many people check fly screens when they're at properties. We do. Um, you know things like that. What to look for? We do. You know things like that.
Speaker 2:What to look for upkeeping a property? You know you have to regularly clean ovens. If you don't, you just have it dirty for the entire 12, three years or whatever. That oven's going to be pretty much ruined. It's got to be maintained. So just the cleaning alone. Just I mean, we're not going there. People got to live. We understand that it's just more of a maintenance things if things build up. So if we go to the first inspection and we notice, no, the bathroom wasn't that great, then we come back for another six months and the bathroom's even worse, and then worse, and then that can escalate. So we're in that um maintenance cycle where we're looking at things progressively in the future, for the future for the property, for the owner, and that's why our agents are experienced in looking for certain things.
Speaker 2:There's also maintenance issues like leaks, common property, wet carpet, all that sort of stuff that sometimes tenants don't tell you about, which is shocking. I know you think, oh my gosh. Most tenants will say there's a leak, not always. I've been to a property where the wall's rotten and in front of it's a tall boy in the bathroom and you can clearly see some is not right there. But the tenants just go to work, they come home, they forget about it. It's not hindering their day to day, but that wall is slowly getting more and more damaged. So at a routine inspection we do like to look for things like that. Make sure the shower's been sealed. If it's not sealed. All these things are preventative for major works down the line. That's another reason we do inspections to prevent costly repairs later down the track yeah, right, so it's not always.
Speaker 1:It's. It's not a witch hunt, it's just it's uh, which you automatically think straight away with the tenant when the agent's coming. It's actually even just checking structural stuff. It's, yeah, good to say good day to see how it's going, um. But I find it interesting that tenants don't repair stuff, probably that they probably don't want to um disrupt the landlord or the agent, or they don't want to stir up the, the apple cart, um, so they just don't say anything, but it ends up costing a lot more money, wow yeah, there's so many types of tenant behaviors in a property, you know, not everyone's the same.
Speaker 2:Some people work a lot and they come home to afford their own. I understand, you know, they're coming home late. They they dinner, watch a bit of shows and then go to bed, um, so that's what we're looking at. Also, with houses, doing routine inspections for big houses is really crucial. You've got trees, you've got guttering, you've got neighboring fences, retaining walls, all these things, um, I once had to go underneath the house and crawl under that and it wasn't fun, um. But yeah, like with houses, you have to really look for bigger things, not just what you look for in a two unit. Um, I've had a property where bamboo was um put in. Um, and, if those of you that don't know, bamboo grows really quickly and I came back in six months and it was like thailand in the back. The neighbors were all blocked out, which was the entire reason these tenants put this bamboo in.
Speaker 2:But then the landlord wasn't happy with it. They wanted it gone, so you know things like that we also look for.
Speaker 1:So is there ever security issues? So when you do a routine inspection, do you ever feel like, oh shit, I don't feel comfortable in here or stuff like that, or is it always just cool you rock in, rock out? Is there ever like disputes with a tenant or anything like that, or is it just always smooth sailing?
Speaker 2:Look, I haven't had really any unsafe moments, maybe one or two where I felt a bit uneasy about the tenants Generally. I feel where we are today as a society and a community on the Northern beaches, we don't have a lot of that anymore. When I first started, there was a little bit more of a I don't know, I wouldn't say crime scene, but it was a little bit more dodging properties now. So I don't feel that way. Yeah, so I think I mean obviously rents have pushed a lot of that out, but that's a bit taboo to say, but it's true. But yeah, generally speaking, no, I did have a tenant that wasn't with Link Housing or whatever, but he was mentally challenged and he was a big guy and I did not like doing inspections there on my own. I did have the owner attend later within that tenancy and he was fine, but he wasn't all there and it was. It was a little apartment in newport and I was just you know fresh out of taif.
Speaker 2:I didn't. I just didn't like being in there.
Speaker 1:I just had that vibe tell me, do you recommend a landlord come through all routine inspections, any routine inspections? What do you think about landlord attendance?
Speaker 2:I think it's great. I mean for the owners that live overseas our videos are crucial for them but for the ones that live locally, I think it's a great idea Meeting tenants and coming in and having a look. Sometimes an email or the way tenants report things can be misconstrued in tone and when you're there you can see for yourself what, what's irking the tenant and why and yeah, and put yourself in their shoes and vice versa.
Speaker 2:And even you know as much as it makes the agent's job a bit easier, because that way both sides can see how we negotiate. You know approval for you know blinds and all these things that tenants ask for and they think we're not doing you know.
Speaker 2:You know, sometimes landlords want to come and have a look, see if it matches, what the colors are like this and that, and they think, oh, we're just taking time. But it might be that the owner themselves wants a decision process in that you know whole transaction, so, um, and also they just get to come and have a look. You know, seeing something with your own eyes rather than you know on the computer screen can sometimes be more beneficial but if you're a landlord?
Speaker 1:if you're a landlord, don't, don't break the golden rule. Don't give your mobile number or email address to the tenant when you see them.
Speaker 2:It's true, it's true. I've never, ever heard that going well.
Speaker 1:Leave it to your managing agent. Trust me.
Speaker 2:It's true If you're a tenant out there, get.
Speaker 1:If you're a tenant out there, get the aid. Get the landlord's number and email address if you're not, with that back oh my god, I know.
Speaker 2:Look, as much as an owner might think it's easier to cut us out of the middle and deal directly with the tenants, just wait till there's that emergency dot job, christmas day at 12 o'clock at night it is the golden rule, it's the golden rule, it's true.
Speaker 2:Um, and one other thing I wanted to touch on quickly was swimming pools. When you're at routine inspection, swimming pools are also something that we inspect thoroughly. Sometimes the pool people aren't doing what they say they're doing. Sometimes the tenants aren't putting enough chemicals in a pool is another thing that has to be monitored and looked at um regularly throughout the tenancy, um with leaks and cracks and you know, pavers and um compliancy, all that sort of stuff. Um, so yes, I'm dealing with one at the moment gum trees over the pool, filters broken, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1:Seeing it is is important great advice, expert property manager cleo. And before we go, I just wanted to pass on my condolences.
Speaker 2:For what exactly?
Speaker 1:The swimming pools Val Kilmer.
Speaker 2:Oh I know it's a sad day. In our household we're big Val Kilmer fans. He died too young, just like Patrick Swayze and all of them Hollywood greats. It's sad.
Speaker 1:The Doors, doors. What a movie, wow, it blew out.
Speaker 2:It blew out, though. I've seen some photos the last five years and I was like, oh yeah, he got remember him. Wow, oh, he doesn't remember him in Top Gun. I think, yeah, I think he looked the best as Jim Morrison, but he also looked just as good in Top Gun, for sure. Yeah, no.
Speaker 1:Well, anyway, our respects go out to the family, to Val Kilmer today. What an actor, what a legacy. What movies he made.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I believe Netflix is going to be blowing up in the next months or so. When anyone passes, all the movies come on, and that's, I guess, one of the perks we can watch him in our home forever, so yeah, and that's the truth.
Speaker 1:I've got to watch that movie. That's the one I've got to watch Tombstone.
Speaker 2:You've got to watch Tombstone. I can't believe at your age you have not seen tombstone.
Speaker 1:That was like on par all right, all right, I'll watch it tonight. Watch it tonight after work.
Speaker 2:Bye guys at work, see you legend take care bye, apple Bye.