As a new owner of rental real estate in Riverdale, Georgia, you're likely focusing on filling it with tenants ASAP. After all, once you find renters, you can sit back, relax, and just wait for your monthly rental income to roll in, right?
Not really.
While tenant placement is crucial, it's only one part of your job as a landlord. You must also conduct regular rental property inspections. Otherwise, your property's value can drop, and tenants may even file complaints against you.
To that end, we created this guide discussing property inspections. Read on to learn the benefits, frequency, and laws surrounding them.
1. Rental Property Inspections Help Preserve Value
Inspecting your Riverdale, Georgia, real estate properties helps you monitor their structural integrity. It lets you determine if their foundation, framework, and critical systems (e.g., roofing, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC) are in good condition.
If not, at least you'll know of potential problems or which parts require more frequent maintenance. As a result, you'll have more time to address them before they worsen and affect your properties' safety and livability. And by preventing such issues, you can preserve the market value of your properties.
Plus, you could save on repair costs if you deal with minor problems immediately. This can be especially helpful nowadays, as home upkeep and repairs can cost thousands of dollars.
2. You Need to Conduct Them Regularly
Ideally, you should schedule property maintenance and inspections every quarter. This can help you better monitor issues often tied to specific seasons. For instance, AC malfunctions in the summer, heater failures in the fall, and frozen or burst pipes in the winter.
You should also conduct inspections and property maintenance tasks before new tenants move in. This way, you can rest assured that your units are ready for occupancy. Then, do the same just before or after they move out to ensure there's no significant tenant damage.
3. You Must Notify Your Tenants Before Every Inspection
Under Georgia laws, tenants have the right to quiet enjoyment of the property. This means you, the landlord, can't barge in unannounced if you want to inspect your property.
Instead, you must notify your tenants a few days in advance. Tell them the day, time, and date you plan to visit. Then, wait for their confirmation.
That's the legal way of conducting rental property inspections in Georgia. More than that, it's the respectful thing to do. And when your tenants feel respected, they're more likely to be happy and stay in your property.
Maintain Property Values With Regular Inspections
Rental property inspections can help maintain your units' value, safety, and livability. However, you can't just do them whenever you want; you must notify your tenants beforehand.
But what if you don't have time to do all that?
Then, let our property management firm, PMI South Atlanta, do all the work for you. We're part of a national company managing over $5 billion in assets. However, because we're also local, we understand the unique needs of Riverdale tenants and landlords.
So, connect with us today! We're excited to discuss how we can help.
