How to Do a Property Inventory Check-In So the File Survives Check-Out

Keys go out, boxes go in, and the only inventory is a furniture list — so check-out cannot match rooms or grades. That means walking empty and clean, writing a room-by-room schedule of condition, using one reusable grade set, and sending the file the same day with a written comment window. You will time the walk before belongings arrive, note cleanliness as its own line, log disagreement on those lines, and store the signed or sent copy with the tenancy.

A two-bed let. The landlord walks after the sofa is already in the lounge and ticks “sofa, table, 2 chairs”. The tenant never emails comments. Twelve months later a clerk uses a different room order and writes “poor / fair”. Nobody can pair the files.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

When to walk the property for check-in?

Do the walk after the last belongings are gone and after cleaning or repairs, and before anything of theirs arrives — ideally the day before or the morning of the start date. An occupied, half-unpacked flat is a weak baseline.

Do start the walk after the make-ready. Do not write the inventory a week after keys. Hiscox times the check-in as close to the start as you can, after the previous belongings and the clean, with the tenant present if you can arrange it. August names completing the inventory after move-in as a common mistake.

In practice an empty hallway photographs in minutes. A lounge full of boxes does not. Typical mistake: walking during the paint week, then hoping the file still stands when the sofa arrives.

How is a schedule of condition different from a furniture list?

A furniture list says what is in the room. A schedule of condition is the existing state of rooms and surfaces — walls, floors, kitchens, bathrooms, fixtures — plus pre-existing defects. Residential files usually combine both. “Kitchen: good” is neither.

Start at the front door, then room by room: doors, ceilings, walls, floors, windows, fixtures. Note cleanliness as its own line. List furniture with condition, not as a shopping list. NRLA treats the inventory as contents and the schedule as the property, then joins them so both sides can mark the same pages.

NRLA’s walk guide also wants opening meters and the keys handed over on the same file. One line is enough here; the photo-and-serial pack lives in how to record move-in meter readings.

Which grading words will you reuse later?

Pick one short grade set and keep it for the whole file — for example excellent / good / fair / poor. Use those same words, in the same room order, when someone later opens the pack. “OK” will not pair.

Write like a later reader will sit two files side by side. “Living room carpet marked” is weak. A usable line names colour, size and place — for example a beige carpet with an 8 cm stain about 1.2 m from the window. Latch wants the later comparison in the same order and detail. A structured Word or Docs file with embedded photos is enough.

Total Landlord Insurance prefers named grades over a vague traffic-light. Photograph as you write: a wide shot per room plus a close-up of each existing mark, labelled by room.

The short workflow is Walk empty → Write condition and cleanliness → Photograph → Send the same day → Log comments → Store with the tenancy.

How do you run the tenant comment window?

Give them a copy before or at check-in, walk the key rooms if you can, then state a written comment window — commonly seven days. Ask them to sign or to reply line by line. Both sides then keep the final version.

Do write the sent date by emailing the file the same day. Do not wait for a perfect signature before you store anything. August’s schedule-of-condition note treats a file the tenant never saw — or only signed after a week of living there — as a common weak file. LandlordHQ wants it dated at the start, signed or sent with a stated period and proof of sending.

Email timestamps the send. If they mark a scuff you missed, add it on that line. For example, “hallway skirting — chip, tenant comment 4 May, agreed” is a comment trail. A missing send-proof is the hidden risk.

What if the tenant will not sign?

A refused signature does not wipe the report. Keep the dated file, the proof you sent it, the stated comment window, and any written objections on the same lines. Write “declined to sign” and send one reminder.

Do not invent a rule that silence is “deemed accepted by statute”. LetSafe’s check-in procedure is process-level: comments belong beside the same lines; if they return nothing, keep the sent email. An unsigned but sent file still has some use. A camera-roll dump nobody sent them does not.

Where do you store the signed copy?

Do file the signed or last-sent inventory and schedule, the labelled photos, the comment emails, and the walk date with the tenancy. Do not leave the pack in WhatsApp and a phone gallery.

If a later file ever needs to travel, TDS recommended practice is one place a later pack may go — as are DPS or mydeposits. Stop at the start file.

Keep money records in the same folder: a rent schedule that shows who paid which period sits next to the inventory, and a first-month chase is a written file — see rent arrears in the first 30 days.

Success bar: time the walk before belongings arrive, write condition and cleanliness room by room with reusable grades, invite a written comment window (commonly seven days), log disagreement on the same lines, and store the signed or sent copy plus photos with the tenancy. Verify the sent date.

A workspace that keeps the lease, the inspection file and the photos together can replace a chat thread and a camera roll. IziRento is operations software for that file.