Many landlords are confused about when they should send a notice for rent increase out to their tenants.

The problem is, there isn’t one specific answer and depending on where you live the rules differ drastically.

Some states and provinces require 90 days notice, some require 30 days, some only allow increases once per year and some even limit the amount you can increase the rent.

That’s why it’s so important to understand your local rules.

Once you understand the local rules regarding your ability to increase rents you can then start making a smart decision about the timing.

Finding Out Rent Increase Rules

So where do you start?

Well Google can be an initial starting point.

Simply type in your state, or province or even city (be sure to include the state or province if you use city) and Landlord Tenant Act as an initial search.

In most cases this will lead you to a local government site that has a copy of your local landlord tenant rules. Which leads to the boring part, now you have to read the rules!

Most Landlord Tenant Acts are incredibly dry, are written in legalese and often end up being more confusing than clear. But it’s where you need to start.

Buried in that dry legalese you’ll typically find the important tidbits you need to know about increasing rent. Unfortunately they also don’t include all the additional tidbits (at least in most cases).

Some of these hidden nuggets can include whether the timeframe for notice includes a full month as part of the 30 days or what types of notice are acceptable.

I’m going to touch on that a bit more further down this article, so hang on.

Other methods to find out local rules about rent increases and the timing for notices of rent increases is to call you local state or provincial government and then get redirected to the department that deals with those regulations.

They can often direct you to a website with the information or send you a package explaining the rules. They may not break all the information down into an easy to follow format, but at least you have more information.

A third way to find out the rules is to join a local landlord association or group. Most cities and municipalities often have some sort of landlord, apartment or rental association where you can get quality information along with hanging out and learning from other local landlords.

Some of these groups are free, some require memberships.

In my experience those groups can be vital sources of information as far as what’s happening in the industry and what changes or issues may be coming down the channel affecting your properties.

If you’re a brand new landlord I can’t emphasize how important these types if groups can be to your long term success.

Alright, we’ve talked about where to find out about local landlord tenant rules and time lines, now let’s delve into some idiosyncrasies.

When 30 Days Isn’t Really 30 Days

The 30 day notice is one of those tricky notices that really shouldn’t be that tricky.

It becomes tricky because most leases involve month long terms in them (either month to month or a fixed number of months as part of the term), which means the majority of the time a 30 day notice must include a full month.

Translated that means if you provide a tenant a notice on the 15th of a month it usually doesn’t take effect until the full 30 days of the next month has passed. That turns it into a 45 day notice…

This is also the case with most 90 day notices as well making it very important to get these notices off before the end of the current month or it either invalidates the notice or doesn’t take effect for another month.

Learning how much notice and how the rules apply is part one. Part two is actually serving the tenant notice about a rent increase.

How To Serve A Notice For Rent Increase

Sorry verbal notices and texts don’t seem to count anywhere.

They’re hard to prove when done verbally and they usually won’t hold up in court when done via text.

Proper notice is typically written and often requires specific information like the tenants name, the property address, the landlords name, the current date and when the increase goes into effect.

But that’s only one part of serving it. The next important part is how it’s delivered to the tenant.

This brings us back to understanding what is and what is not accepted in your area.

In some jurisdictions they do allow this to be done via email, but I would still recommend doing it in actual writing and then providing a follow up email instead.

Some states may require registered mail, some will allow process servers some need the tenant to sign off on it, others don’t.

In the majority of cases it’s simply a matter of handing them the written document, preferably getting them to sign off they received it, but what if the tenant knows the rent increase notification is coming and suddenly starts avoiding you?

If you’re doing this on the last day of the month and they successfully evade you for the day they may have just bought themselves another 30 days before the rent can actually increase.

This is why it’s important to serve time sensitive notices several days in advance where possible or even weeks in advance if you can.

If they still continue to evade you (rare case, but it does happen) you may be able to post the notice on the property and this opens up a new set of rules and nuances.

If a property has two entrances (front and back door say) you may be required by law to post on both doors. Posting on just a front door could allow the tenant to say they didn’t see it until after the month started as they only use the back entrance.

Granted, this is not the norm as most tenants are going to be fine with receiving a notification, but if they are not, or if you expect backlash, you need to be prepared.

And being prepared means following the rules and then being able to prove you followed the rules or that the tenant received the notifications.

Taking photos or video when you have to post notices helps, getting tenants to confirm they received the notice and are aware of it in texts or emails can count as proof or simply having them sign off can be easiest when possible.

It’s simply better to prepare for the worst in many cases and if it works out great. If it doesn’t, well you have your backup and yo know you followed the rules.

Hopefully this answers most of the questions you may have about any notice for rent increases coming up in your near future.

I’d love to hear any feedback you have, so leave a comment about your experiences or challenges with raising rents.

Relevant Rent Increase Articles

If you are considering increasing rents, here are a couple other articles you may also find helpful.

How To Properly Determine Local Rents

Raising Rents Without Raising The Roof & Upsetting Tenants

Often when landlords talk about prorated rent it revolves around refunding a few days rent when a tenant leaves early or possibly charging them a few extra days rent if they stay a few days into the next month.

They often overlook the opportunity to use prorated rent to make it easier for tenants to move into their property while putting a few extra dollars into their own pockets!

I’m talking about giving tenants early access to a property to make their move in easier and to make your property possibly slightly more attractive to potential tenants who this benefits while at the same time paying you for the benefit.

Of course you don’t have to prorate the rent, you could just let the tenants in early but that’s up to you and how your current rental market looks.

Personally I’ve done both.

Creating Win Win Scenarios

While being a landlord is the same as running a business sometimes the smart decision involves giving something away short term to win long term.

As a landlord that might involve letting the tenants in one or two days early, but you don’t always need to just give it away.

I’ve given a couple days away to seal the deal so to speak where it helps me get the tenants I want and to make both sides happy.

I’ve used this to preserve my time by meeting the tenants on a Sunday afternoon signing all the paperwork and giving them keys when the first of the month is a couple days off but I was going to be busy that day.

I’ve even used it to simply be nice!

At the same time I’ve also prorated a weeks worth of rent to give tenants early access and I’ve charged for an extra couple of days to make signing easier for them and once again even though additional money changed hands, both sides walked away happy and winning!

The Benefit Of Prorated Rent For The Tenant

You have to remember getting early access could be huge for a tenant trying to coordinate a move-out and cleanup of their previous residence.

Especially if the end of the month falls in the middle of the week or if it’s an especially busy time to rent a vehicle to move everything.

Paying an extra $50, $100 or even $500 could be well worth the reduced stress and tight timelines for many tenants.

The Benefit of Prorated Rent for Landlords

The obvious benefit of prorated rent for a landlord is the extra cash flowing in to stem the losses from a vacancy, but their’s more!

You also have someone living in the property sooner to help monitor it, or at the very least with a personal interest in securing it if their items are sitting their!

Vacant properties could be a prime target for breaking into and theft of appliances, fixtures, anything not nailed down or simply for squatters, so the sooner they are occupied the better.

What about Utilities?

In just about every situation where the tenants are paying for utilities, I simply cover the payments until the beginning of the month, even if the tenants moved in early.

I’m already winning by having the unit filled early, I’m likely already getting a few extra bucks for the early access and the little bit I have to spend covering the cost of the utilities I simply accept as the cost of doing business.

You may want to have a line in the sand for this if the tenants are moving two or three weeks early, but if it’s a couple days it’s really not worth the hassle.

Granted the same could be said for the prorated rental amount too, but that’s still a case by case scenario!

Calculating Prorated Rental Amounts

Now I’ve previously written a couple articles explaining how to prorate rents, so if you need a refresher you can visit this article, How To Calculate Prorated Rents.And to help you work out the math behind prorating rents here’s a link to my handy Pro-rated Rent Calculator to do the heavy lifting for you!

So a quick question for you!

Have you ever prorated rent for a tenant, and how did it work for you? Was it a win win scenario? I’d love to hear your story so leave a comment below and tell us how it worked for you.

Do you talk to other landlords? Or do you find yourself simply keeping your head down doing your own thing?

Being a landlord can be an incredibly lonely career choice, especially if it’s your primary job. Your main contacts end up being your tenants and you don’t really want to share stories of success or challenges with them.

Worse yet if you have a single rental you’re likely in a situation where you don’t really discuss your challenges, your successes or even your stresses about your property to your friends and co-workers.

They simply don’t relate…

You need to surround yourself with other landlords.

Landlord Groups, Landlord Associations, Or Other Landlords You Meet.

Groups, associations, even other landlords can all provide you a place to share your stories, your concerns and your successes with and that makes a huge difference in your long term success as a landlord.

I’m writing this today due to a consulting call I had yesterday with a long time landlord (over ten years) who’d basically secluded himself for the last several years.

He was just doing his thing, fighting his fights and not making any headway.

Now he was considering adding to his portfolio, picking up where he left off many years ago and focusing more on his Real Estate, but he’d lost contacts, relationships and possibly even motivation by being on his own.

So my advice to him, get active again!

Reach out to people who are doing what he wants to do, again.

Start conversations with other landlords, join a Facebook landlord group or attend a landlord meetup. Just start surrounding yourself with people who are doing what you want to do.

They may not all be succeeding, they may even be struggling, but by sharing stories and supporting each other it can help all of you to grow, to succeed, to thrive.

As I know many people he should be reaching out to I gave him a list of names to contact, a timeline to reach out to them and a deadline to update me on his progress.

Now it’s up to him (and in your case you) to take action and move forward.

I’m Picking Up My Game

I’ve spent the last several months working on my landlord game because I too have been coasting.

It started by joining multiple online landlord and investing groups and trying to help answer questions and solve problems for other landlords both new and confused.

It evolved into my 31 articles in 31 days journey where I pumped out a ton of new content to help landlords out there.

This has led me to a speaking engagement next week and another one in a couple weeks (which means I have to start dressing like a grownup again too, sigh).

By being active and engaged it can help not just you, but others as well.

So hang out with other landlords, share stories with other landlords and we’ll be able to help us all grow!

Are you an active landlord? Or a passive landlord keeping to yourself? Do we need to start our own group, or could you recommend some groups for other landlord? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Here’s a good place to start if you’re on Facebook, search for the Landlord Round Table group where you’ll find over 10,000 other landlords sharing stories, looking for advice and generally helping out others. It might be a good way to get started connecting without even having to leave your home!

The Importance of A Tenant Walkthrough

Before we get into the nitty gritty about doing a tenant walkthrough I should start by explaining what a tenant walkthrough is and why it’s so important to complete a walkthrough with your tenants.

A Tenant Walkthrough is a mutually agreed upon representation of the state of the property between a tenant and the landlord or their agent and should be completed before a tenant takes possession, and upon giving up possession.

Bill Biko – The Educated Landlord

The important part (well one of the important part’s) in the definition above is that needs to be mutually agreed upon by the landlord and the tenant.

That means both parties involved (the tenant and the landlord or their representative) agree to all the good and the bad about the condition of the property.

Now more important parts; they not only must agree, but the tenant walkthrough needs to be on paper, signed and dated.

It can’t be verbal, it doesn’t consist of a handshake nor does a video or a couple photographs cut it on their own!

It Must Include Paper, Signed & Dated By Both Landlord & Tenant!

That statement above was so important and non-negotiable that I had to bold it!

This signed and dated document is your proof of the condition of the property at time of move in and in many regions is required if you hope to keep any part of a security deposit or damage deposit to cover damages to your property.

Without a signed dated document that missing door was never there and you’re paying to replace it.

That oil stain on the carpet was there when they moved in and the payment for the new carpet comes out of your bank account. And the holes in the drywall were always there and you’re paying out of your pocket to fix it. Ultimately without the walkthrough, it comes down to a he said/she said situation.

For many landlords the pain of this “he said/she said” moment doesn’t really show up until they have to pull that $500 or that $1,000 out of their own pockets to pay for damages caused by a tenant.

That’s when the pain becomes real.

My point being, in order to avoid that pain, you need to do a tenant walkthrough of your property each and every time.

Non Negotiable Points About Tenant Walkthroughs

I need to impress upon you two main points with walkthroughs.

Two points that are non-negotiable and that if you follow through on every single time you place new tenants in your property, that they will save you money, reduce your headaches and keep you in control.

I already mentioned the first one above, your tenant walkthrough must be signed and dated, and also of importance, the tenant needs to get a copy of it.

These days this can be accomplished with a smart phone and a PDF scanning app right on the spot allowing you to immediately give the tenant a copy.

The second non-negotiable point is, the tenant does not get keys to the property until the walkthrough is signed off on and all deposits and rents you required are paid and processed.

By processed I mean the money is in your account and won’t get clawed back. As in NSF or insufficient funds if paid by check.

Personally I only accept cash, bank drafts/money orders or electronic money payment for the initial deposit and first months rent. As these are typically guaranteed payments I end up assured I actually am getting paid.

If someone wants to give me a check, I inform them it’s my policy to wait ten days after depositing the check before releasing any keys to avoid any issues. This tends to make scammers go away and real tenants come up with the funds solving two problems for me.

OK, enough pre-amble, onto the walkthrough process!

My Tenant Walkthrough Process

Pre-walkthrough Steps

My walk through process actually starts before I head to the property.

Before I head over, and usually the night before when possible, I prepare my walkthrough by filling in the details I already have.

• Property Address
• Tenant Name(s)
• Landlord Name or Landlord Company Name

By doing this in advance I have the full property address, I have the complete tenant name down and I have the appropriate landlord info filled in. All this saves me time and confusion during the walkthrough.

When I’m meeting a tenant for a walkthrough it starts with me arriving at least thirty minutes before the tenants arrive.

This thirty minutes allows me to go through and do a walkthrough without anyone looking over my shoulders and allows me to do all my usual property checks.

During this time I make sure there are no obvious issues with the property, that toilets are flushed (if the property has been vacant for any length water in toilets tend to evaporate and can cause staining if you have hard water in your area), that there is toilet paper in place (it’s the right thing to do..) windows are opened if it needs airing, all my staging items and cleaning items are packed up and that all lights are on to help show it better.

Once that initial sweep is done, I’ll take my walkthrough paperwork with me and make notes along the way going through each room marking off it’s status.

With my walk through form I have boxes to check off whether the condition of each element I check is OK, whether it Needs Repair, Needs Cleaning or if there are further details I have a blank space to add additional notes.

If there are items not applicable, say there i no dishwasher at the property, I just strike it through and initial (and have the tenant initial as well later).

I go through each area of the house, kitchen, bedrooms, living rooms etc. and make all my necessary inspections and notes all prior to the tenant arriving.

This includes not just the interior of the property but any garage space, and the exterior as well where applicable.

Once I’ve gone through the initial inspection I take care of all the additional details that need to be complete before the tenants arrive.

These would be tasks such as sorting property keys, checking mail keys (if they have keyed mail), reviewing lease paperwork one last time and simply trying to be as prepared as possible.

Getting these little details worked out before you meet the tenants helps ensure signing in new tenants is far less stressful. Truth be told I usually do all of the key sorting and prep work the night before I meet the tenants so I can spend the majority of my time simply focusing on the paperwork when I meet them in person.

Tenant Walkthrough

Once the tenant has arrived I spend the next few minutes explaining the process. I’ve typically already briefed them of this when I scheduled the signing and walkthrough meeting, but I like to be thorough.

So, I explain we will do the walk through which should take 10-15 minutes and that I did a pre-walkthrough already and that after we both review that paperwork and sign off we’ll review and sign the lease which is another 15-20 minutes.

As part of the initial scheduling I inform them we will be meeting at a minimum for thirty minutes and it will likely be at least an hour.

This time allows me to go over not just all the paperwork, but to provide them with additional details to help them adjust to their new home and to answer any questions that may come up.

These additional details involve informing them of garbage pickup days, where mailboxes may be located, providing contact information and emergency contact information and even talking about local stores and/or restaurants in the area. (Here’s a short article touching on how we keep new tenants happy – Making a Great Impression With New Tenants.)

Once we’re through all this, then the actual walk through can begin!

As we’re already inside I like to start at the front entrance and work my way through the property in as logical of a progression as possible.

This usually works out to be entrance, then living room/dining rooms, kitchen, bathroom(s) and then finally the bedrooms.

Once these main rooms are complete I go through any additional space, such as basements, dens and remaining spaces and then we complete the exterior inspection.

When I do the inspection I’m looking for damage such as dents in the walls or doors, stains in carpets, check closet doors and look for missing or damaged trim. I’ll make sure all the electrical covers are in place and not cracked or broken. I’ll look at light fixtures to ensure they are all in place and that all the bulbs are working.

As I go through the kitchen and bathrooms I’ll inspect under the sinks for any water damage and then in the kitchen I’ll look inside fridges, microwaves and dishwashers and look to ensure they are clean and there are no issues.

In each room with a window I check for cracks in the windows and check for locking mechanisms on sliders, that handles work property for crank windows and that screens are in place and in good condition.

For any issues I find I’ll make notes on my walkthrough form or check the appropriate boxes. If a room doesn’t have one of the items on the list, like a bathroom without a window, I scratch a line through and initial (and also have the tenant initial) that it’s been struck through.

As you go through the inspection you’re not trying to cover anything up or to note every single detail you just want to cover both yourself and the tenant from potential issues.

An example is one of my properties has a couple of sections of floor with deep scratches on them. It appears a rocker may have had a couple loose nails and gouged the floor. Since the floor is laminate and it’s only two sections that are typically hidden by a couch or chair due to their position in the room, I point it out to the tenants, make a note on the form and we both understand they are not responsible for those two scratches! Rather than spending a lot of time and money replacing the entire floor, we just make it work.

Depending on how long your tenants stay with you, and I average a few years typically, there will be wear and tear. It’s expected and I don’t try to go after the tenant for it.

So I don’t get too fussy about the little things. I just want to make sure everything is in reasonable condition, screens, closet doors, light covers and electrical outlets aren’t missing or broken and that the property is in good shape.

I’m expecting after three years I will need to repaint so I don’t over worry about the conditions of the walls too much, there may be a nail hole or two which isn’t a big deal, if the tenant points it out I add it, otherwise carry on.

The new tenants will likely be adding a couple themselves and while I hope they will fill them when they leave, I will be patching anyway so it’s not that big a deal.

In most cases I’ve recently repainted after the turnover so I have a very good idea of the condition of the property’s walls which helps speed up my inspection.

Deposits Are Not Revenue Streams

The important aspect from my viewpoint is that I’m not out to nickel and dime my tenants when they move out. I don’t use security or damage deposits as revenue streams like some less than ethical landlords.

If there is damage, not wear and tear, I will charge for it.

If there is cleanup required after they move out, I charge for it. On the other hand if they’ve been there three years and the cleanup is 75% of what I would do, I just smile and nod.

If I need to steam clean the carpets, I charge for it. If they just need a vacuum more smiling, more nodding and more ignoring.

You need to have a fairly loose line in the sand and the longer they stay with you, the looser and fuzzier that line becomes.

After a couple years if you plan on painting to freshen it up anyway you’ll need to do cleanup after the fact, so why would I charge a tenant for work I had to do anyway?

Finishing the Walkthrough With Your Tenant

Once you’ve gone through everything, finalized and agreed to all the notes and checkmarks everyone needs to sign off on the walkthrough.

This involves not just signing the last page, but also initialing at the bottom of every page that they acknowledge they have read it.

Now my particular form has some additional information on the final signing page where they can sign they agree with the walkthrough or they can sign they disagree with it.

This is more of a legal conundrum that a real issue because first I’ve never had anyone disagree with the walk through. Second, if they did I’d never sign the lease with them and give them keys until we worked out the issue.

Is it legally required, possibly not but I’ve left it in to give my potential tenants a choice.

Once everything is signed off, you’re onto signing off on the lease which will also take a while as you should be reading through it and pointing out all the important details to your new tenants. (Not all tenants understand leases, so as their new landlord make sure they understand your lease! Here’s a short video/article I put together explaining why Explaining Your Lease to Tenants)

Once you’re done signing all the paperwork you can start wrapping everything up.

Wrapping Up

You’ve received your payments and they have been processed so you know nothing will bounce.

You’ve completed your walkthrough and everyone has signed off.

You’ve gone through your lease and properly explained it to your new tenants.

Once everything is signed off it’s time to hand the keys over and welcome them as your new tenants.

As I mentioned earlier you’ll need to get them copies of the lease and the walkthrough which you can do by scanning them on your phone or by scanning them when you return home and immediately sending them off to the tenant.

Congrats, you’ve completed your walkthrough!

Did this cover everything? Did it leave you with any questions?

Is there anything else I could have added or clarified?

I’m going to go out on a limb right about now and do a little mind reading, and that mind reading tells me that some of you might be interested in getting a copy of my walkthrough form. Am I right?

Well I’ve added it below, just click the download link and you’ll receive a PDF version of it. So grab it, take a look and if you have any feedback , I’d love to hear it.

Note this is the free PDF version. I sell the spreadsheet version which you can edit to suit your needs separately. If there’s enough requests for it I’ll add a paid link here at some point, but you can have the non-editable copy for free.

As always, I look forward to your comments and feedback, so click scroll to the bottom and comment away!

Before you do a walkthrough, you need to make sure you find the right tenant!

That involves advertising, interviewing and screening prospective tenants and if you learn to do it right it can save you a world of headaches.

With the average bad tenant typically costing a landlord two months worth of lost rent or more finding the right tenant needs to be a priority.

Knowing what to ask, how to correctly check references and how to pull their credit bureau (and then be able to properly read it) are all a part of that screening process.

I’ve put together an in-depth course that goes through all of the information you need to successfully screen your next tenants. How to advertise and what to write to filter out bad tenants, what questions to ask to ensure you have the right people, how to properly check references to avoid getting scammed and how to pull a credit report (plus what all the 0’s, 1’s and 9’s on the reports mean!).

If you want to be a successful landlord you need to invest in this course to educate yourself about the Art of Screening Tenants.

For more information about the course and to sign up for it, just follow this link, How to Screen Tenants Like An Educated Landlord, oh and I’ll send everyone who orders the course a copy of the editable walkthrough, so enjoy!

The more landlord tools we have in our landlord toolkit the better we can manage our property.

That’s why I’ve decided to start putting together a few landlord tools that will help you be better, more educated, landlords. Over time and with your assistance, perhaps we can grow this list to include a few of the tools you use in your landlord business as well.

Which leads me to my first tool that I want to introduce you too.

In my experience one of the most vital aspects of being a landlord is having sufficient cash flow. Having solid cash flow from a property allows us to build up reserves, lower rents during slower periods without paying out of pocket and generally provides us with a cushion as we move forward.

For landlords looking to expand that extra cashflow also helps us qualify for additional mortgages, pads our bottomline even more and simply makes our landlord business better.

The problem is, many new landlords grossly overestimate their cash flow.

I’ve previously written articles explaining cash flow (you can check this one out Do You Really Understand Cashflow as a refresher.

But now I’ve come up with a new tool you can use to quickly estimate your cash flow on properties you own, or are looking to purchase.

Introducing My New Landlord Tools

The Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator allows you to “run the numbers” on a property and includes calculations for not just taxes, insurance and mortgage payments, but also vacancies, maintenance and even property management.

You can quickly plug in your numbers to get an idea of how much, or how little, cash flow your property is providing.

Now I understand as investors we likely already have our favorite spreadsheets to do this, but sometimes you need to do a quick estimate, you want to double check your numbers or you’re looking for a simpler way to work.

I’m hoping this new landlord tool will help with that!

You can find it here >>>Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator.

It may look a tad daunting at first, which is why I’ve included a ton of supporting information on that page, but once you’ve used it once or twice I’m sure it will be quite obvious what and how to plug in your numbers.

Once you do understand it, I’ve also created a more streamlined page with the calculator that you can find here, Simple Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator Page.

I just finalized this a few days ago and I’d sent it out to a few select people for feedback. So far it’s been relatively positive and I’ve already made a few tweaks but I’d really like to hear from you as well.

So if you could take a few minutes and just try it out, leave me a comment or even email me directly, I’d really appreciate it as it will help the landlord population as a whole.

I hope you enjoy it, I hope you find it helpful and I hope to hear from you! Enjoy!

Oh, and if you have any ideas for additional tools you might like to see, let me know!

When you have a new tenant move in it is imperative you do a complete tenant walkthrough with them to protect yourself later.

The idea of this walkthrough is to provide a baseline for the state of your property at the time of the tenant move in and that you can use to compare with the properties condition when they move out.

You’ve put in all this time and effort to create a great place for someone to live. You’ve cleaned, painted, freshened it up and the walkthrough is helping you capture the condition in time.

Now, if you’re one of those landlords who simply doesn’t give a damn and never paints or cleans up their place before trying to throw a new tenant in, you can ignore all this.

If however you’re serious about succeeding as a successful landlord, you’ll do tenant walkthroughs every single time you place a new tenant and have a system for it so you don’t miss anything!

The Two Most Important Tenant Walkthrough Points

The two biggest mistakes landlords make when doing a tenant walk through are the following.

First, doing the walkthrough after giving the tenant keys.

The tenants absolutely DO NOT get keys until you have completed the walk through and agreed on it, which brings me to the second important point.

Second, the tenants must sign off on the walkthrough and agree to it.

A walkthrough without the tenants signature, and the date it took place, simply doesn’t count.

The reason you need to complete both of these tasks before providing keys is to protect yourself.

If you don’t do the walkthrough prior to handing over keys there is no incentive for the tenants to actually complete it.

If you don’t have the tenant sign off that they are in agreement with the walkthrough there’s no proof they were there for it, or whether it was accurate!

Worse yet in some areas, like where I have properties, without a signed complete walkthrough it makes it virtually impossible to retain any of the security deposit for damages or repairs needed after the tenant moves out.

It comes down to there is no proof that that gaping hole in the wall wasn’t there when they moved in…

You’ve simply got to make sure you get both done before you release keys.

What Should A Walkthrough Include?

An effective walkthrough needs to address each room in the property including bathrooms and combined spaces like dining/living rooms and even outbuildings like garages and sheds.

It needs to point out the overall condition of the walls, the doors, the windows,the flooring, the ceilings and even the electrical plugins and switches.

It should point out missing windows screens or holes in screens, stains on carpets or gouges on floors and damages to the walls and/or ceiling.

Basically creating a history of the condition now that you’ll need to compare to the condition on move out.

Pro Tip – When we do walk throughs we also take pictures and/or video of the condition for additional proof and we ALWAYS make sure to include several images showing the tenants on site during the inspection.
The images or video with the tenants help to prove they were actually there at the inspection and the images can help prove the condition of the property at time of move in.

Proper and thorough walk throughs are an integral part of ensuring your success long term as a landlord that you need to make sure they are completed and gone through with every single new tenant you put in place.

Do you have a walkthrough process already? Would you like me to break down our process in a future article? Let me know in the comments and be sure to share this with any landlords you know that could use a little guidance!