If you do property management inspections on any kind of regular basis then you’re probably familiar with the following scenario.
And if you’re anything like me, you’re not that fond of the time, effort, and hassle that each property management inspection requires.
The old property management inspection process
This was my process (is it anything like yours?):
The old property management inspection process wastes time
First, I had to drive 30+ minutes into the office to check my email for any new inspections.
I would cross-reference that against “the spreadsheet” in Excel to make sure no one else had already done the property inspection.
I’d find the address, pull it up in Google, and scribble down directions on a piece of paper.
Then I went through my checklist of must-haves to bring with me:
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- Clipboard
- Yellow Note Pad
- Partial printout of Excel spreadsheet (does anything from Excel ever print correctly?)
- Pen
- Digital Camera
- Memory Card for Camera
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Usually, I’d try to find a bag to dump all of this “stuff” in and head out to my car.
After loading in, I’d realize I forgot my coffee and have to head back in to get it (or worse, I’d realize I left it on the hood of the car).
Now, I was ready to go to my first property, which almost always was back across town 30 minutes by my house, where I started the morning.
On the rare ocassion my handwriting was legible, I’d enter the address into my GPS to get directions.
On days when I came up with chicken scratch, I would have to call into my office and have my assistant read the address off to me again.
Finally at the property, it was a juggling act of everything in “the bag.”
Walking through the property, I checked things off on the printed spreadsheet, scribbled comments that would later have to be transcribed (my poor assistant).
Then I took photos with a digital camera that was a bit too complicated for me.
I’d try to scribble the photo numbers alongside my comments, so I could remember which room was which when I got back to the office, but I wasn’t very diligent about this.
On good days, I could finish an inspection in under 90 minutes and then I’d haul “the bag” to the next property.
The old property management inspection process is not efficient
At days end, it was back across town to try and make sense of all the scribble marks, loose arrows, and random photos.
My assistant and I would dig out “the cord” and plug it into the digital camera, then upload the photos into the computer.
We then laughed, cried, screamed, and sighed as we tried to match up which photos went with which property.
Finally, we would enter each property with its half-legible notes into “the spreadshet” which was then transferred into “the template” we used in Word.
The end result was nothing less than a jumbled mess.
We were fortunate to have property owners that trusted us most of the time, so didn’t ask questions about our hodgepodge of misinformation about their property.
But not always …
One time we even submitted a report that had a different property’s photos—alright … maybe it was more than one time.
It was all very embarrassing.
The old property management inspection process can be embarrassing
Are you familiar with this process?
Can you sympathize with my pain?
Are you currently using your own version of “the bag,” “the spreadsheet,” “the cord,” and “the template?”
If so, take a look at this property management inspection solution that worked for us. We designed it.
We developed Inspect & Cloud so we wouldn’t have to live the old way of doing property management inspections ever again. Am I biased because I designed the software? Sure, but what can I say—it works.
Inspect & Cloud has removed so much of the stress from my day that I can’t believe I wasted so much time on property management inspections in the past.
Fortunately, we’re property managers who happen to hang out with talented software developers all day. They like to solve problems.
We don’t have to use “the cord” anymore.
Tools evolve to make our lives easier. Have you made the property management inspection switch?
