We always remind our clients that it is always nice and happy to move in, however not so nice to move out. This is a recurring experience happening on a daily basis for us at Meridius Inventories.
Tenants tend to forget that during their stay, the house will deteriorate and indeed some houses more than others. As the person living on the property, things can easily go unnoticed as routine kicks in and times passes by. Suddenly, years have passed and it is time to move out. This is where things get complicated. Below are a few steps that tenants can take to minimise issues at the move out.
Get a condition report
A simple property condition report can save you hundreds of dollars at the end of your tenancy. The reason being, if a proper report was carried out at the start of the tenancy, all the scratches and marks would have been in photos and any damaged noted. Unfortunately, what happens in many cases is that only a few pictures were taken of the property. By the time the tenant is moving out, there is always a dispute between the parties on why there are no pictures of the areas which now have scratches and/or damages. This is not only detrimental to the tenant, but also to the landlord as well in the sense that if there is no pictures, there is no way for either parties to prove that something existed prior to the tenant moving in.
Don’t wait for last minute to check and fix things.
Don’t sit on the fixings. Our staff will alway advise you not to sit on the fixings. In other words, don’t wait for the last month before your tenancy ends to try and fix everything. This is very obvious to anyone coming in to inspect the house on the day of move out. The quick patches and the missing items can be easily spotted. Instead, start slowly and run through your inventory list a few months before and make sure you have everything.
Let your landlord or agent know
During the period of your tenancy, things will scuff and break. Once in a while let your landlord or his representative agent know what happened and what you have fixed. It is nice for a landlord to know that you have attempted to fix things Keeping him in the loop will give him a heads up rather than getting the shock of his life when you move out.
We assist on a daily basis many property agents and tenants moving in to a rental property in Singapore. Simply give us a call and one of our representatives will assist you.