Inspections are par for the course in property management, but how you conduct them has the power to make your agency stand out in the crowd or drain valuable time and money. Here, Jo-Anne Oliveri explains how you can streamline your processes to get the most out of your inspection program.
How can I improve my inspection program efficiency, so I save time and money and look more professional?
You probably have a great inspection program, but the big question is whether you’re using yours with a manual-first approach or a technology-first approach?
If you’re using yours with the former, you’re costing your property management business time and money. To get the most out of your inspection program, you should put policies and procedures in place so the technology can do its job.
How do you do this? Put together an inspection policy that incorporates your business standards combined with your inspection program’s features.
In this policy, you should define the level of detail each inspection type must include, so reports remain consistent regardless of which team member does them.
These standards could go something like this:
- The entry report records the condition of the property at the time the tenants move in. Everything must be recorded.
- The exit report records any discrepancies between the standard of the property when the tenant moved in against the standard of the property when the tenant moved out. This report only records anything that needs attention, rectification, restoration and/or further discussion.
- The routine report records changes to the property since the last inspection, along with any item or area of concern that the owner needs to be aware of or provide instruction on.
Next, let the technology do its magic.
Your inspection program should allow you to create customised predictive text for every property item, area, and scenario.
While this may seem like a huge task, you will rarely need to make changes to the text in the future. If you haven’t done this already, now is the time!
Write predictive text for the three types of reporting: entry, exit, and routine. That way, when a team member conducts an inspection, they just need to type a few letters, and the text will automatically drop down.
Trust me, this hack will save your business hours!
Next, ensure you have photography standards in place, so your team don’t get click-happy and use more time than needed.
These standards could go something like this:
- During entry inspections, include photos of every room. Take long shots and close-ups of any items or areas that may be damaged or marked, so other team members can identify if changes have occurred during the tenancy.
- When it comes to exit reports, only take photos of items or areas that have changed when compared to the entry report.
- For routine inspections, only take photos of items or areas that have changed since the previous inspection.
Finally, since most inspection reports only need minor tweaks from one inspection to the next, your team members should use the program’s functionality to transfer all notes and photos from the previous report and update as needed.
Doing this will save your business time, as there is no need for your team members to start reports from scratch.
Following these steps allows you to operate with a technology-first approach and let your inspection program do the heavy lifting.
As a result, you’ll save time and money, and your inspection procedure will become more streamlined, making your business look more professional.
Shift your approach and watch the results speak for themselves.
