Landlords in Puerto Rico have a responsibility to their tenants. They can't just use them as a source of income. The landlord is responsible for providing a habitable living environment and ensuring it stays in shape over time.
Although you may not face issues often, rental properties can experience issues over time. But the problem is that you won't know about those issues without property inspections.
So, why should you conduct property inspections? Learn why below.
Maintain Vital Systems
The components your property relies on degrade over time. Plumbing goes bad, roof shingles become damaged, and other issues may occur.
If you aren't on top of things, it can result in more severe problems that cause issues for you and your tenants. In the worst case, you'll need to find new tenants because your current ones get frustrated by the problems and leave before lease renewals.
A property manager must regularly stay on top of those things to avoid problems. Property inspections will highlight a property's issues and allow you to perform property maintenance to prevent further issues.
Find Pest Issues
Although some pest issues are easy for tenants to spot, some go unnoticed. Pests can stay inside walls and other hidden areas. There's no telling what damage will occur when they stay unseen.
A proper property inspection will help you find those issues. Property inspectors will look at all the common areas for pests to hide and ensure none are there.
Maintain Property Value
Tenant issues are just one problem you'll see if you let your property issues go unchecked. You'll also see your property's value decrease as more issues develop.
Regular inspections will help you fix issues that cause your property's value to go down. As a result, you'll also see value from a property's appreciation and can sell for more if you decide to sell the property in the future.
Look for Problem Tenants
Unfortunately, not all tenants work out. You may have a great tenant screening process, but some bad ones may slip through the cracks and cause issues with your rental.
A property inspection helps you discover those problems. It helps ensure tenants care for your property and gives you the necessary information to handle evictions.
Comply With the Law
It isn't just financially smart to maintain your property. Depending on your location, you must also do this because of the law.
Each area has laws governing tenant rights, building codes, and safety standards you must uphold. Property inspections look at how your property holds up to those standards. If there are issues, inspections allow you to find them quickly and fix them before getting into trouble with the government.
Don't Ignore Property Inspections
Your property will degrade over time. Parts of the home will break down and eventually cause larger issues if left unattended. To avoid those problems, you need a property inspection strategy.
Luckily, managing property inspections isn't that hard. It's even easier if you have a property management company to help.
At PMI Puerto Rico, we offer many services for property owners to help them manage their rentals. Contact us today to learn about our services and how we can help!
