The Reports2Go App Saves Landlords A Lot Of Time And “Aggro”

If you are a private landlord with a handful of properties, you still need to take inventory in the same way as a letting agent with300 or 400 properties on their books would. It is essential that you note the condition of everything in your properties at check-in and check-out, and of course you need to carry out interim checks to ensure that your tenants are behaving themselves, and to spot any maintenance issues or other faults that need fixing before they get out of hand.

Obviously, you then need to type up your inventory which both you and your tenant sign, and you each have a copy to keep. This is important for you so that if there is damage which has been caused during the tenancy, you can claim for repair or replacement from the tenant’s deposit. It is equally important for the tenant because some unscrupulous landlords will endeavour to charge for fair wear and tear, or for damage that already existed when the tenant moved in.

Our Free App Will Save You Time

Even though you may only have a handful of properties, taking inventory can be time-consuming, so you may be delighted to know that today there is a free inventory app that you can download to your mobile or tablet which will make the process a lot quicker, and also a lot more accurate because it won’t let you miss anything out.

The free inventory app is from Reports2Go and can be downloaded from The App Store or Google Play. Once installed you can then use it in one of two different modes according to your preference.

If you choose to use it in text mode, it is very simple. Instead of making notes with a clipboard and notepad, you just type them into the app on your mobile. As you go, the app will give you prompts so that you don’t miss things out. Now, once you have finished your inventory you then upload the media to your portal on our server at Reports2Go and in a few minutes it will have been automatically generated and ready for you to download.

If you prefer, you can use the app in audio mode. This way, you just dictate your notes into the app. When you have finished, you upload to your portal, and in this case, it will be ready for you to download and type up later. If you don’t want to type it up yourself, you can have one of our staff do it for you for a small fee.

Whichever way you use it, our free app makes your life as a landlord a lot simpler.

The Importance Of Photographs When Taking Inventory

There seems to be a certain amount of confusion in some quarters about the terminology used to describe the recording of a property’s contents, cleanliness, and condition according to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. It says that alternative expressions such as “schedule of condition” are sometimes used.

According to its’ own website, inventory consists of recording the cleanliness and condition of a property with clearly defined description glossaries, accompanied by any fixtures, fittings, contents and decoration, and with relevant meter readings (the ‘inventory’), immediately before the tenancy starts.

Check-in report consists of getting the tenant’s agreement to the report, which is often done by visiting the property with the tenant or alternatively giving the tenant the chance to provide feedback remotely and agree on the contents, usually within a period of 7 days.

The check-out report is recording the condition and cleanliness of the property when the tenancy ends in order to identify what has changed.

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The Tenant Deposit Scheme Has Seen An Increase In Disputes

Over the last few years, landlords and letting agents have seen a sharp increase in the number of disputes since the introduction of the Tenant Deposit Scheme. This has changed in nature from a situation where agreement just couldn’t be reached, to a situation where people are just trying their luck because they have realised that the arbitration process is free.

This works both ways. Some unscrupulous landlords will try to cover fair wear and tear by getting some extra money from the tenant’s deposit, while many tenants will wriggle in order to try and recover the whole of their deposit even though they know that they are in the wrong.

This is why it is more essential than ever to ensure that inventory, check-in, and check-out reports on a property are of sufficient standard that people will think twice about it. One of the best ways to do this is to use one of the apps that landlords and letting agents can download for free to a mobile or tablet. These apps can vary quite considerably, but the aim is the same: to help letting agents and landlords prepare a free condition report which is as accurate as it can be.

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Our Free Property Inventory App will save you a lot of time

Everyone in the world of residential letting agents agrees on the importance of an inventory, but the quality of inventory reports can vary considerably across the industry. The success or otherwise of deposit disputes can be determined largely by the quality of the inventory and the schedule of condition.

It is a fact that tenants today are disputing deposit reductions more and more, as it has become apparent to them that they have nothing to lose by doing so, since disputing it doesn’t cost them anything. If you are a tenant, what’s not to like? This is why accurate inventory is an essential factor in obtaining a fair result for your landlord. Yes, of course, there is such a thing as fair wear and tear, and it is not unknown for landlords to try and represent that as damage caused by the tenant. However, as a letting agent, you want to keep your landlords happy, and the way to do that is to produce an accurate check-in report, interim reports, and check-out report so that everything has been duly noted.

In fact, of course, interim reports are probably a major factor in noting any damage and also fair wear and tear as the tenancy proceeds. An interim report that is properly undertaken will highlight issues as they happens, well before the end of tenancy.

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Free Dictation Software Can Save You A Lot Of Time On Inventory

When you run a business of almost any description there are always the good parts and the parts that are not so good. The ones that are not so good are the things which are “must-do’s” as opposed to the things that you enjoy doing and which make a profit.

In the case of making a living as a letting agent, most people would say that one of the “must-do’s” is taking inventory. It is time-consuming, and the majority of letting agents find it tedious, to say the least, if not downright boring. Yet it is an essential part of the job, and it has to be done correctly in order for ensure fairness to both the landlord and the tenant. Furthermore, as a letting agent you may have to undertake several inventories each week. Obviously, the more clients you have on your books, the more inventories there are that need to be done.

Now, of course, you can get your hands on one of the free apps which you can download to your mobile or tablet and use to help with taking inventory, and there is no doubt that the best of them can save you quite a lot of time. Some of them only allow you to type up your notes as you go, and this is fine if you are quick – as some people are – at typing on something as small as a tablet or mobile. However, a lot of us, especially men who in general have large hands than women, are really not that good at typing on something so small at speed. This is why some of the apps contain free dictation software.

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The Benefits Of Using A Specialist Inventory Clerk Agency

When taking inventory today, many clerks are using an inventory clerk app which you can easily find online. There are lots of them out there. However, the trick is to ensure that you get the right one for your needs because some of the older apps have lots of drop-down menus which are time-consuming and more importantly unnecessary for an experienced inventory clerk who knows what he or she is doing.

Carrying out inventory for a three-bedroom house can take around three and a half hours without using an app and doing it the 20^th century way. Using some of the available apps can cut that down to around two hours. However, if you use one of the later apps that doesn’t rely on lots of drop-down menus it has been shown that some inventory clerks can carry out the inventory in as little as 30 – 45 minutes. Now that is a very big saving of time, and therefore money. This is particularly the case if you are in somewhere like a university town when you have lots of students checking in and out and you need to carry out a lot of inventory in a short space of time. 

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Allowing For Fair Wear And Tear In Inventory

When undertaking inventory as a letting agent, one of the things that you have to take into account is fair wear and tear. If you are like many people doing inventory you may well be using a free inventory report software which makes the process of inventory so much better in many respects. It can help to speed up the whole process, while at the same time ensuring that you don’t overlook anything.

However, one of the things that a free inventory report software can’t do is to allow for fair wear and tear. That is an assessment that has to be undertaken by the inventory clerk and he or she has to use their experience and common sense to assess a range of factors in deciding what is, and what isn’t, fair wear and tear.

One of the first things to consider is the quality of the item being assessed, and that can vary considerably. Obviously, a top-quality item will last a lot longer than a cheaper version. It is also necessary to consider the usual life expectancy of the item. In addition, there is the question of the condition of the item at the start of the tenancy because, for example, it could have been halfway through its’ life expectancy at check in.

The there is the condition at check out. Has the item been subjected to more wear than would be normal? It is also necessary to consider the number of tenants and how many adults and children there are when appropriate. For instance, a carpet will be subject to more fair wear and tear if there are four people in the household than if there are only one or two.

The tenant has a duty to leave the property at the end of the tenancy in the same condition it was in at the beginning, after allowing for fair wear and tear. When considering compensation, fair wear and tear has to be taken into account along with the most appropriate remedy for repair or replacement. It is also essential to ensure that the landlord is no better off materially or financially at the end of the tenancy, having taken those factors into account.  

A Completely Free App to Speed Up Inventories

To anyone outside the lettings industry, taking inventory may seem an easy job. It’s just a case of just getting a clipboard and walking from one room to the next making a note of things as you go. That’s it, isn’t it?

Well, of course, as an insider you will know that it isn’t as simple as that. We wish! There is a lot more to taking inventory and taking it accurately than meets the eye. A whole section of industy exists in the form of inventory companies who take their instructions form mainly letting agents but now increasingly from landlords directly too.

Quite a number of letting agents prefer to outsource their inventory because of the amount of time it can take doing it in-house. When you are managing 300 or 400 properties, doing inventory is a full-time job for someone, so outsourcing it may be the best option. Many inventory clerks are members of a professional body such as the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks or ARLA Propertymark Inventories both of which run training courses and offer a qualification/accreditation route. In addition, both organisations need members to carry indemnity insurance so letting agents can handover work with peace of mind.

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Why You Need A Free Schedule Of Condition App If You Are A Landlord

When you are a landlord with a couple of properties that you let, or perhaps five or six, you are probably only too well aware that you need to carry out inventory on a regular basis. Your tenants are required to pay a deposit, and you are entitled to claim the cost of any repairs from that deposit if they cause damage to your property.

So far, so good. But you can only do that if they agree that the damage is their fault and not fair wear and tear. Unfortunately, the fact is that tenant disputes have increased dramatically over the last few years since the introduction of the Tenant Deposit Scheme because both tenants and landlords have realised that it costs nothing to begin a dispute.

This is why carrying out inventory on a regular basis has become so much more important. If you have got records to show exactly what condition everything was in at the beginning of the tenancy and at the end, along with interim records and photographs to go with them, then your chances of making a valid claim increase considerably. 

The problem is that, unless you are an experienced landlord, you may not know how to go about carrying out inventory the correct way.

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There’s An App For That!

It’s true. There is an app for very many things these days. There are thousands and thousands of them to deal with all sorts of problems, and many of them are free to download to your mobile, tablet, laptop, or whatever. Technology has made our lives much easier in many respects in the 21^st century.

Many of these apps are available on the App Store and/or Google Play, and quite a lot of them are available on both. They will work with both iPhone and Android in most instances, so it doesn’t matter which you use. You simply download the app that you wish to use – in some cases there is a small fee – and away you go.

If you are a letting agent, you may or may not know that you can get a property inventory app which will save you a lot of time when taking inventory. Carrying out inventory can be very time-consuming, especially if your landlords let a property fully furnished. There are so many things to take into consideration. It is bad enough when a property is let empty, but when it is fully furnished it can easily take an hour or two to do the inventory.

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Carrying Out A Condition Report Can Be Time-Consuming

One of the biggest problems that a letting agent has to face is carrying out inventory, otherwise known as a condition report. Inventory has to be carried out right at the beginning of a tenancy, ideally on the same day that the tenant moves in, and with the tenant present. It also needs to be carried out on the day the tenant moves out, again also with the tenant present if possible.

In addition, of course, interim condition reports need to be carried out during the life of the tenancy. Just how often these should be conducted are a matter of some debate. Some letting agents say they should be carried out annually, others every six months, and some say every three months. Perhaps every three months is a little too often, and the tenant may also find it tedious. However, every six months is reasonable.

No matter, the fact is that as a letting agent you can spend a lot of time carrying out inventory, particularly if you look after, say, 300 or 400 properties. Even if you only carry out a condition report every six months, that is still a lot of time doing inventory. If your landlords let properties empty then that is time-consuming enough, but if they let their properties furnished it can become a full-time job.

Traditionally, of course, inventory has been done with nothing more than a clipboard and a biro, and also a small camera. Today, however, we have moved into the 21^st century and we have technology which can help considerably. There are apps which you can download on to a mobile phone or tablet which can help to save a considerable amount of time taking inventory. Furthermore, some of them are free to use!

They will guide an inventory clerk through each room making suggestions as to what to check. The clerk can either type in his comments, or in the case of some apps there is an audio feature when he can just speak his comments and then type them out when he gets back to the office later on.

Will the Tenant Fees Act Result in Inventories Being Taken Back In-House?

Back in the day, there were no such things as inventory companies, and letting agents had to undertake inventory on their own. This meant employing an inventory clerk, or clerks, and supplying them with a clipboard, paper, biros, and a camera. The inventory clerk may also have had other duties to attend to and, bearing in mind that you had to send rolls of film off to have the photos produced, completing a full inventory could take from several days to a couple of weeks.

Then along came inventory companies who did nothing else but carry out inventory, so letting agents who used their services didn’t need to employ their own inventory clerks. However, the introduction of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 may well encourage some agents to take inventory back in-house, and it has been suggested that this may result in inventories not being as accurate as those done by an independent company.

However, writing in The Negotiator magazine (https://flickread.com/edition/html/free/5cc80db634c3f#45) , Frances Burkinshaw says that she started her business in the 1970s when there were no inventory companies and she employed her own inventory clerks and trained them thoroughly. She said that times changed, and she invested in technology, doubtless using a free inventory clerk app such as the Reports2Go app, but that she would never be persuaded that an outside company would do a better job.

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A Free App Will Save You A Lot Of Time On Inventory

When you are a managing agent looking after many properties on behalf of your landlord clients, possibly one of the worst jobs that you have to do is carrying out inventory. And yet it is an essential part of your work.

It is one of the worst jobs because it can be extremely time-consuming. It is repetitive. And one might say boring. Yet it is important because it is vital to note any damage that the tenant has caused to the property during the tenancy. Equally, from the tenant’s point of view, it is necessary to take note of fair wear and tear. This happens to all properties, and the tenant cannot be expected to pay for wear and tear which will automatically happen in a property as time passes.

Certainly, under the TDS, the tenant has provided a deposit for the precise purpose of the landlord being able to recover the cost of repairs to damages caused by the tenant, but that cannot be claimed without some evidence. The tenant can go to arbitration and it costs him or her nothing, so it is almost in his interests to do so. The only way that you can supply evidence of damage on behalf of your client is through carrying out inventories at check-in and check-out, and on regular inspections in between. 

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If You Are A Landlord, A Check-In Report Is Vital

Whether you are a landlord who owns a property or a number of properties, it is essential that you carry out what is known as a check-in report. This is simply an inventory of the condition of your property at the point that your tenant moved in and is designed to ensure that if the tenant causes damage during the course of the tenancy you can claim damages for repair work to be carried out. This applies to the property itself and also to any furniture, white goods, and so on that you own but that are there for the tenant to use.

Any such damages are to be deducted from the initial deposit that the tenant is required to pay you under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and is there for both your protection and that of your tenant.

A check-in report is a written report of the condition of the property at the beginning of the tenancy and is usually followed up by interim reports every year or so that will show any damage cause by the tenant. It also protects the tenant because the interim reports will show fair wear and tear for which the tenant cannot be held responsible.

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The Purpose Of The Tenancy Deposit Scheme

If you rent your home, it is normal for your landlord to require a deposit under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). The purpose of such a deposit is to cover any damage that you may cause to the landlord’s property during your tenancy. Such damage could be accidental, or could even be wilful, but at least the landlord has the opportunity to cover the cost of some repairs.

However, the money which is the deposit remains yours, as the tenant, until your tenancy is terminated either as a result of the limit of the tenancy, because you decide to move on, or because the landlord terminates the tenancy on grounds of your behaviour.

Even if you have caused wilful damage, the landlord cannot automatically deduct any money from your deposit without your approval. If he claims damages you are entitled to a hearing under the TDS, and this costs you nothing. It is free. Arbitrators will look at the circumstances and decide whether the landlord is right to claim part, or all, of the deposit to cover his expenses in putting right any damage.

Many landlords, or their managing agents, today use an end of tenancy app which they can download to a smartphone and which allows inventory to be taken by an inventory clerk simply walking around the premises and making notes as he or she goes. The results are then compared with a similar inventory that was taken a day or so before you moved in.

The end of tenancy app enables the landlord or his managing agents to make a comparison of the state of the property over the period of time during which you were the tenant, and makes it a simple matter to note any damages caused by you. It also allows for fair wear and tear.

This would appear to be a simple and fair method for both landlord and tenant and was the way in which it was designed. The landlord cannot charge you for fair wear and tear, and equally, subject to arbitration, can recover costs to which he is legally entitled.

Use Free Dictation Software For Inventories

If you are a managing agent looking after dozens of properties on behalf of landlords, you will spend a lot of time undertaking inventories. Unfortunately, they are extremely time-consuming, yet they have to be done in order to keep a check on any damage that occurs to the landlords’ property during a tenancy.

Some properties may not take too long if the property was let empty. However, if it was let partly or fully furnished there can be a lot of different items to check. The condition of each has to be noted, and you also need to take photographs of any damage, even if it is only a small scratch to some paintwork.

Some inventory clerks are still undertaking inventories the old-fashioned way, using a clip board and biro, but today you can get an app which you can download to your mobile and use that instead. There are several of these apps and some of them are free to download and use. With many of them there is free dictation software included, so instead of typing up your notes as you walk around the property you can simply dictate them into the app. Of course, you can also take photographs as you go, which makes the whole process a lot quicker and highly accurate. 

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The Importance Of A Landlord’s Condition Report

When you own property and rent it out as a landlord, or whether you are a managing agent looking after properties that are rented out by a number of landlords, one of the things that you really must do is carry out an inventory on a regular basis. It is not a legal requirement that you do so, but if you don’t, it can cause all sorts of problems when the time comes for your tenant to move on.

An inventory, or condition report as it is sometimes known, is a written report on the condition of everything within the property, and it should be done at the point when the tenant moves into the property so that both landlord and tenant are agreed on the state of affairs at the outset. In some cases the property may be empty, but in others the landlord may provide furniture, a cooker, refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, and so on, and the condition of everything that belongs to the landlord should be recorded. The condition report should also contain photographs of many of the items so that there can be no doubt of the condition at that point. It should also have photos of any damage, so that, for instance, if there is a scratch on the fridge door the tenant cannot be blamed for that later.

An inventory should also be undertaken at regular intervals during the tenancy. How often this should happen is a matter of opinion. Some people suggest as regularly as every three months, other say six, and still others think that once a year is sufficient. Carrying out an inventory on a regular basis allows any dilapidations to be noted more or less as they occur.

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Property Inventory Software Can Help You As A Landlord

When you rent out a property as a landlord you have one big advantage: you have money coming in regularly every month – or at least you should have. If you have capital invested in the property, or even if you don’t because you inherited it, having a regular income for basically doing nothing is always a good thing. Who wouldn’t want that?

However, it isn’t quite as easy as that. It would be lovely to think that you have money coming in, but there is another side to the coin and that is any problems that occur. For example, there could be a tremendous storm which causes tiles to fall off the roof. Fixing it is your problem, because you own the building. The plumbing could leak: that could be even worse because it could cause damage to the furniture which is actually owned by your tenant. 

Then there is the problem of damages caused to your property by your tenant, either deliberately or as a result of neglect. These are known as dilapidations and are the responsibility of your tenant. However, they can be the subject of considerable disputes. For example, carpets can and do wear out, and that is not a dilapidation but simply wear and tear. You cannot recover money from your tenant’s deposit for fair wear and tear. Equally, you can deduct money from the deposit for dilapidations.

The problem is that when the time for checkout arrives, who decides what is fair wear and tear and what are dilapidations? Unless you do regular inventory checks it can be hard to decide. This is why inventory on check in and checkout is essential, but even more why periodic inventory is vital.

When you do periodic inventory, you can take photographs which show fair wear and tear and also show dilapidations. Today, you can get property inventory software to help with this, and in some cases it is free to download. Using property inventory software will give you a considerable amount of assistance when carrying out checks because it will remind you of certain things to look for and can also help you by taking photographs of items as time goes by.

Inventory Reports Are Time-Consuming But Essential

If you are a landlord or a managing agent, there is no law that says that you MUST carry out inventory reports. However, you are far better off doing so because if you don’t there can be never-ending disputes about who did what and when, and what was already damaged when the tenant moved in, at the point where the tenant moves out. 

As the landlord, you have the right to claim any damages from the tenant’s initial deposit when that tenant moves out in order to carry out any repairs that may be necessary, and that is only fair enough. However, this can lead to arguments over what is “damage” and what is fair wear and tear. After all, fair wear and tear actually does exist, and if you have a tenant for ten years it is very likely that the paintwork will have deteriorated and will need repainting before you can let your property again. 

Equally, if a tenant has caused damage to your property it is only right that the tenant pays for any necessary repairs. All of which is why regular inventory reports are so critical.

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Some Of The Different Ways To Carry Out Inventory Reports

If you are a managing agent with many landlords as clients, or even if you are a landlord with a lot of properties, one of the things that you have to do is to carry out inventory reports on each of the properties involved. These obviously have to be carried out when the tenant moves in and when he or she moves out, but you also need to do intermediate inventory reports on a regular basis.

Managing agents vary in how they tackle inventory reports. Some use outside inventory clerks to do it for them, reasoning that they have better things to do with their time. Of course, inventory clerks need paying for their time too, but this can be included in the fees charged to the landlord.

Other agents who have a lot of properties on their books will employ their own inventory clerk full time, while those with fewer properties to manage will have one of their staff undertake inventories perhaps a half day or one day a week. 

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