Do you need a house inspection service before purchasing a rental property?
So you’re thinking of purchasing a rental property to get your property portfolio started – congrats! Buying a new property and renting it out is an exciting venture. But it also comes with a whole lot of responsibility to look after the property and keep it in shape for your tenants. Before purchasing a rental property there are some things you might want to consider – including getting a house inspection service.
A healthy home
As a landlord, you have a responsibility to ensure the property is healthy and safe for your tenants. The house has to comply with healthy home standards and legislation – including heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress, and draught stopping.
Before purchasing a property to rent out, it’s important to check what insulation the home currently has, and whether it will be needing more to be compliant with healthy home standards. Similarly, the home has to be adequately ventilated to avoid dampness and mould, and windows and doorways have to be perfect to ensure no draughts can get in.
To spot these things and figure out how much it will cost to get them up to standard, you’ll need to utilise a house inspection service. A qualified building inspector will be able to provide you with a comprehensive building report, so you can commit to the property with all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Maintaining a rental
While a tenant has some responsibility to maintain the property, much of the onus falls on you. A rental property is like a car, and needs regular services to stand the test of time!
Washing the house once a year, cleaning the windows, cleaning heat pump filters, changing the water filters out periodically, ensuring it’s well ventilated… there’s a lot of things people tend to forget about. Just the other night, I discovered that my water pump had split and was spewing water everywhere! It’s often the things like that that tend to slip through our to-do list unnoticed when it comes to maintaining a property.
Utilising a house inspection service
When becoming a landlord, it’s not just the initial cost of the property you have to consider. The cost of maintaining the property and ensuring it’s a healthy place to live for your tenants is even more important.
The great thing is that it’s pretty easy to get an idea of the cost of maintaining a property using a qualified property inspector. An inspector can provide a thorough pre-purchase property inspection, identifying what work will need to be done to ensure the property complies with rental legislation and the cost to get the property up to scratch. Investing in a quality property inspection now can save you a lot of money in the future on maintenance, renovations, or unhappy tenants.
Thinking of starting your own property portfolio? Find out more about a house inspection service.
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