Download our free, comprehensive rental property inspection checklist (PDF & Excel) designed for move-in, move-out, and seasonal inspections. Use this tool to document property condition, track maintenance, and protect your investment.
Every landlord should use an inspection checklist. It’s the only thing standing between you and the eternal mystery of why tenants feel “hand towel hooks” can support a 40-pound houseplant. This simple form keeps everything organized and consistent, which means fewer arguments, fewer headaches, and fewer late-night texts that begin with, “So, funny story about the smoke detector…” So download the free template today. Save time, stay consistent, and maintain a perfect paper trail, because in property management, documentation is your only friend who doesn’t steal the light bulbs.
Download the Free Checklist (PDF & Excel)
Why Every Landlord Needs an Inspection Checklist
A reliable checklist is the first step to professional property management. It ensures you maintain a consistent record of your inspections, which is crucial for:
- Legal Compliance: Documenting the condition of safety devices like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Property Condition: Creating a clear record of the property’s state to distinguish between normal wear and tear and actual damage.
- Maintenance: Highlighting areas needing repair to ensure tenant satisfaction and protect your asset. This often leads to needing a Maintenance Request Form Template.
- Dispute Avoidance: Providing written documentation with pre-existing damages to avoid arguments over the security deposit.
I would highly suggest going into your properties at least once a year, checking the smoke alarms, making sure the tenants are doing the things that you want them to do, and if there’s something, you want to address it right away.
0:00 hey everybody darren voros here today i 0:02 am in red deer alberta 0:04 and checking in on my properties here 0:06 that i own 0:07 i have a property management company 0:09 that works for me here and so i don’t 0:11 often get to see my properties 0:13 in person but i’m here visiting my 0:15 family and i thought i would do 0:17 a walk through of all of my properties 0:19 and i thought i would video it 0:21 for those of you that are interested in 0:22 doing walkthroughs on your properties 0:24 and seeing what i look for and what i 0:26 look at 0:26 i’m basically looking at general 0:28 maintenance items and anything that 0:29 needs to be taken care of 0:31 and also it’s just a good opportunity 0:32 for me to check in and see what the 0:34 properties look like in terms of 0:35 how the tenants are keeping them and i 0:38 also like to check 0:38 all of the fire safety things so the 0:40 smoke alarms fire extinguishers make 0:42 sure that they’re all in place 0:44 so i’m here meeting my property manager 0:46 and we’re going to walk through each one 0:47 and i’ll hopefully have a little bit of 0:48 video 0:49 on each property of things that need to 0:51 be addressed 0:52 before we get into the video today if 0:53 you haven’t done so already you can 0:54 subscribe to my channel hit the 0:56 notification bell and please feel free 0:57 to leave comments and questions below 0:59 for me 0:59 and without further ado let’s get in 1:02 there and take a look at these 1:03 properties 1:03 so we’re at the first property and i 1:05 wanted to just show you a couple things 1:06 that are happening here in the garage 1:07 and then outside as well 1:09 if you see it’s a perfect day for it 1:11 because the sun is shining in on the 1:12 garage here 1:13 and you can see there’s a bit of a gap 1:15 at the bottom of this door 1:17 and this is going to be perfect for mice 1:19 to get in 1:20 and get into this garage and eventually 1:22 work their way into the insulation 1:23 throughout so 1:24 it’s a very simple fix we’re just going 1:26 to get a new gasket for the bottom of 1:27 this door 1:28 and that should solve that problem it’s 1:29 like a 20 piece get it from home depot 1:32 you can repair yourself 1:33 but it’s really important it’s happening 1:34 on this side and also on the other side 1:36 here so we’re just going to do both 1:37 sides and hopefully that seals all of 1:39 that up 1:40 the other thing that i just noticed when 1:41 i was walking in here uh not a big deal 1:44 but 1:45 there’s no cover on this electrical 1:46 outlet so just to be safe make sure 1:49 nobody sticks their fingers in there and 1:50 gets electrocuted 1:52 these are really simple minor repairs 1:54 that’ll cost 1:55 you know 30 for this whole garage and 1:57 then it’s done it’s safe and it’s ready 1:58 for the tenants 1:59 the other thing i noticed with this 2:00 property is you can see that the tenants 2:02 are obviously using this as a main 2:03 thoroughfare 2:04 and this is pretty bad it’s being worn 2:07 the grass is being worn down 2:08 and it’s tough this is something where 2:10 it’s like okay do you do a temporary fix 2:12 i replace the grass every year or do you 2:14 just bite the bullet and put a new 2:15 cement pathway in so 2:17 i think the idea here is we’re actually 2:18 going to put a cement pathway to connect 2:21 the back to the front because the 2:22 tenants are using it this is where they 2:23 bring their 2:24 garbage out with uh from and so i think 2:27 we’re gonna 2:28 make the choice to essentially pave all 2:31 of this and i’ll show you the front so 2:32 we’ve got a couple options here as i was 2:34 saying the the walkway 2:36 you can tell that the tenants have been 2:37 using this and been walking straight out 2:39 here 2:40 but i think it’s gonna look a little bit 2:41 weird if we have 2:43 this path going straight out here so i 2:45 think what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna 2:46 get them to come to this point 2:48 and then we’ll angle and connect to the 2:49 other sidewalk there’s a chance that 2:51 they’re still going to use this pathway 2:53 here but we’ll try to 2:54 stake it out and we’ll we’ll put some 2:56 new sod in and hopefully once the 2:58 pathway is here especially in the winter 3:00 when they use it and they shovel it off 3:01 clean they’ll use this pathway here once 3:04 it’s all cemented so we’re going to 3:05 create a new cement path here and then 3:07 we’ll 45 degree angle it 3:09 connect to the old path and this should 3:10 solve the problem for now so one last 3:12 thing that i noticed here is also that 3:14 this 3:14 there’s a cover missing on here so if 3:16 you want to come a little closer 3:18 there’s a cover this is a fresh air 3:20 intake for the hrv 3:21 so you can see on this one this one is 3:23 actually a cover it’s exhausting right 3:25 now 3:25 so this one’s exhausting here that one’s 3:27 bringing fresh air in but if there’s no 3:29 cover on here and this isn’t actually 3:30 going to be a cover to be a graded 3:32 cover so the air can still come in but 3:34 if this is left open you can have birds 3:35 in here you can have 3:36 mice you can have all kinds of things so 3:38 we’ll get a cover for that as well just 3:40 to fix that up super simple repair 3:41 so we’re at our second location here and 3:43 everything looks good in the property we 3:44 did the main floor we looked at the 3:46 basement 3:47 the only issue here is obviously the 3:48 tenants have disconnected the smoke 3:50 detector 3:51 which is a landlord and as an owner is a 3:54 huge concern for us 3:55 so it’s one of the first things we look 3:57 at to make sure that they’re not 3:58 disconnecting smoke detectors and if 4:00 they are i want to know why is it 4:01 setting it off is it something that just 4:03 needs to be replaced on the battery 4:05 so we’ll talk to them we’ll get it 4:06 replaced but it’s always first and 4:08 foremost to make sure that all the smoke 4:09 detectors are working in the house 4:11 the other thing i noticed in this 4:12 property is this carpet is a little bit 4:14 old 4:14 and i’m thinking that there’s probably 4:18 hardwood underneath this so my property 4:20 manager and i were talking about the 4:21 next time 4:22 the tenants move out that we might pull 4:24 this carpet see what’s underneath maybe 4:25 refinish it and it’ll help with 4:27 maybe bump the value of the property a 4:29 little bit by having hardwood throughout 4:30 so 4:31 these are the only two things that we’re 4:32 seeing inside on this property but other 4:33 than that it’s 4:34 looking like it’s in great shape we’re 4:36 at our third location 4:37 and i’m just seeing this front step is 4:39 in really rough shape 4:41 it’s a bit of a tricky situation because 4:44 you know if you can see this is an 4:45 irregular step here for one 4:47 uh the other thing is everything is kind 4:48 of sloping down problem with something 4:50 like this 4:51 is that this is a like this is a 4:53 concrete 4:54 block step it’s not a hollow step so to 4:56 take this out would be um 4:58 a pretty big chore so we just got to 5:00 figure out whether we’re going to cap 5:02 it whether we’re going to sort of 5:03 jackhammer some of it out and re-pour it 5:06 but this is something that needs to be 5:08 addressed it’s not necessarily i mean it 5:10 is a safety thing but it’s also just an 5:11 aesthetic thing it’s to look at the curb 5:13 appeal of the house 5:14 this is the first thing you see so we 5:16 definitely need to address this 5:18 in the next uh before the end of this 5:20 before the end of this summer 5:21 so i might actually come over here on 5:23 sunday and uh take a jackhammer to it 5:25 and see how it goes 5:26 so we’re at our last property for the 5:28 day and just one little minor repair 5:30 here this is 5:31 a laminate countertop and sometimes 5:33 these pieces they have a tendency to 5:34 come off 5:35 so this is a pretty simple repair but i 5:37 want to get it taken care of right away 5:38 because what happens is somebody catches 5:40 on it and then it breaks and then it’s a 5:41 nightmare to fix 5:42 so it’s just a contact cement repair 5:45 very simple thing 5:46 the other thing that i wanted to talk 5:47 about in this property is the windows 5:49 so the blinds are fine here but i think 5:52 what we’re going to do is we’re going to 5:53 replace 5:53 all the blinds in the property because 5:56 we replaced the windows a few years back 5:58 and the blinds never got replaced 5:59 it’s not necessary to replace the blinds 6:01 but i think doing some small 6:02 improvements 6:03 throughout the leases and improving the 6:05 property is always helpful for the 6:06 tenants and also 6:07 it just helps in in marketing for new 6:09 tenants when they’re coming in 6:11 not not a lot of out of pocket expense 6:13 but it’s probably you know five six 6:14 hundred dollars 6:15 in blinds but that’s something that we 6:17 want to do every once in a while to make 6:18 sure we’re up keeping the property we’re 6:20 just down in the utility room in the 6:21 basement of our final property 6:23 and we’ve got a couple things happening 6:24 we’ve got some water on the floor here 6:26 so 6:26 this is the um pressure relief valve for 6:29 the hot water tank this is a brand new 6:30 hot water tank so we shouldn’t be having 6:32 any issues with it 6:33 but it is leaking a little bit so we’ll 6:35 just have the plumber come back and 6:36 often what what’s happening is just a 6:38 bit of a gasket 6:40 failure on the pressure relief valve so 6:42 it’s a really simple repair but we’ll 6:44 have him come back and take a look at 6:45 that 6:45 and there’s also a leak on the floor 6:47 somewhere here with a with the main 6:49 floor kitchen 6:50 is draining into the the trap and it’s 6:53 creating a little bit of a leak as well 6:54 so we’ll just have a plumber come in 6:56 take a look at that 6:58 nothing major but you want to get these 6:59 water issues figured out because 7:01 obviously you don’t want to have water 7:02 pooling 7:03 in the basement simple repairs but as 7:05 long as you stay on top of everything 7:07 really you know helps in maintaining 7:10 your properties for the long term 7:11 so we had a chance to tour all five 7:13 properties here in red deer 7:15 and i have to say everything is looking 7:16 pretty good you know the properties are 7:18 in good condition 7:20 they’re relatively well maintained and 7:22 clean and the tenants were 7:23 very courteous so it’s nice it’s nice to 7:25 be able to come back and check 7:27 everything out make sure everything’s 7:28 going well i would highly suggest going 7:30 into your properties at least once a 7:32 year 7:32 checking the smoke alarms making sure 7:34 the tenants are doing the things that 7:35 you want them to do 7:36 and if there’s something you want to 7:37 address it right away either directly 7:39 with the tenants or with your property 7:40 manager 7:41 and i wanted to just show you guys what 7:42 it looks like 7:44 when you have um multiple properties 7:47 and and uh you gain keys over the years 7:50 i think um jill’s gonna have to go 7:52 through these later and figure out which 7:53 ones she’s using and which one she isn’t 7:55 so anyway i hope you guys enjoyed the 7:57 video if you did hit the like button 7:58 below you can also subscribe to my 7:59 channel 8:00 hit the notification bell and please 8:01 feel free to leave comments and 8:02 questions below for me 8:04 give me one of your horror stories of 8:06 maybe one of your property inspections 8:07 or give me something that you do on your 8:09 property yearly property inspections as 8:10 well 8:11 you can leave that in the comments 8:12 section below you can also follow me on 8:14 facebook instagram or check out my 8:15 website at darrenvoras.com with that 8:17 i’ll say 8:17 thank you guys so much for watching i 8:19 wish you the best of success on your 8:20 real estate investing journey 8:21 and i look forward to hearing your 8:22 success stories very soon 8:26 [Music] 8:35
Move-In vs. Move-Out Inspections (Key Differences)
This checklist can be used for any inspection, but its focus changes depending on the timing. For a more detailed guide, use our specific Tenant Move-In/Move-Out Checklist Template.
| Inspection Type | Primary Goal |
|---|---|
| Move-In Inspection | Document the property’s initial condition and note all pre-existing damages. This is signed by the tenant to protect their security deposit. |
| Move-Out Inspection | Compare the property’s final condition against the move-in report to assess for any new damage beyond normal wear and tear. |
| Routine/Seasonal Inspection | Proactively check for maintenance issues, ensure the lease terms are being followed, and identify any needed repairs. |
What Should Be on a Rental Inspection Checklist?
A thorough inspection report should cover everything from legal compliance to minor cosmetic issues. Here are the key items from our template.
| Item | Example / What to Check |
|---|---|
| Lease Agreement | Ensure the lease is accessible and check the lease term for accuracy. A Lease Renewal Letter Template may be needed if the term is ending. |
| Property Condition | Document the overall state. Note if it is a well-maintained property or if there is visible damage. |
| Safety Devices | Test all smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and check fire extinguisher expiration dates. |
| Maintenance Requests | Document any pending maintenance issues or new requests from the tenant. |
| Pre-existing Damages | Note any scratches, dents, or stains present at move-in to avoid disputes about the security deposit later. |
| Wear and Tear vs. Damage | Differentiate between normal wear (e.g., faded paint) and property damage (e.g., holes in the wall). |
| HVAC System | Test both heating and cooling functions and note the last service date. |
State-Specific Inspection Requirements
While this template is a comprehensive guide, landlord-tenant laws change by state. Some states have specific rules on the required notice for entry, or what is legally considered normal wear and tear. Always consult with a local professional to ensure your process is compliant, especially when preparing a Property Management Agreement Template.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rental Inspections
The best way to document issues is to take detailed, time-stamped photos and videos. Attach these to your completed inspection checklist and have both the landlord (or property manager) and the tenant sign the document to acknowledge its accuracy.
Normal wear and tear is the expected decline in condition from regular use (e.g., faded paint, minor carpet wear). Damage is caused by negligence, abuse, or accidents (e.g., large holes in the wall, broken windows, or deep scratches in hardwood floors). Landlords can typically deduct from the security deposit for damage, but not for normal wear and tear.
Inspect your rental property at least twice per lease term: once at move-in and once at move-out. It is also a good practice to conduct one optional seasonal or bi-annual inspection to check for preventative maintenance issues. Always provide proper written notice to the tenant as required by your lease and local laws.
Track Your Finances After the Inspection
After your inspection, the next step is tracking your finances. Click here to enhance your property investment analysis with our comprehensive Rental Property Cash Flow Spreadsheet tool.
