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Photography: Why it’s an essential part of a tenancy cycle

Photographs play an essential role from the moment a landlord or agent lists a property online to the point at which a tenant moves in and out of a property.

Marketing

Attractive images of a property are a great marketing tool. They’re one of the first things a prospective tenant will look at before reading any detailed text about a prospective home and deciding whether to view the property.

A MoveStreets study found 79% of respondents stated images were the first thing they checked when looking at a property.

Professional produced photos are more likely to put a property in its best light and result in more viewings.

Check-in, out and mid-tenancy

Before a tenant moves in, moves out, and, of course, during their tenancy, the property's condition must be documented. While written descriptions are essential, images can further support what an inventory clerk is seeing. For example, if a window is damaged or there are marks on walls, this can be evidenced with clear images that are hard to dispute.

Inventory clerks can use periodic inspection software to do this. Images can be uploaded onto it when carrying out check-in, check-out and mid-tenancy reports. Images of a property’s contents, appliances, fixtures and fittings, garden, and so on can be used as supporting evidence when comparing a property’s condition at the tenancy's start and end. Whomever inspects the property needs to take images of the places they captured before for accurate comparison and pictures of any other parts of the property that have changed since the tenancy began.

A professional inventory service understands the importance of taking accurate and detailed images at each stage of the letting process. Professional inventory clerks and experienced letting agents understand that it is vital to include pictures of expensive items such as white goods, flooring and furniture. This can help to protect both tenant and landlord in the case of any dispute.

Timestamps

It is important that images in reports are time-stamped. Unscrupulous creators of property reports sometime re-use images from reports several cycles earlier as the current state of the property. Clearly, timestamps can stop that in one step.

How Reports2Go can support you

Our software can help you create four report types: inventory, check-in, check-out and mid-term. In each instance, you can use our software to upload images to evidence the condition of your property. For example, our periodic inspection software can be used to document the condition of each room, the garden, damage or neglect, and supporting photographs can be uploaded.

Check us out to find out more about what we offer.

Panos, 12 May 2023