End-of-lease touch-ups

The gap between how a property looks at the end of a tenancy and how it needs to look at handover is usually a day’s work and a deposit’s worth of money.

Almost nothing on that list is expensive to fix. Almost all of it is expensive to leave.

Work from the report, not from memory

An inspection is a comparison against the check-in report. If you have that report, it is the list — worked through in order, item by item.

If you do not have it, the next best thing is a walk round with a phone, photographing everything a reasonable person would flag. What matters is that the work is done against a list rather than against a feeling about which bits look worst.

What actually costs people their deposit

Fixings. Every hole from a shelf, a bracket, a mirror or a TV mount. Filled, sanded and touched in, not just filled.

Sealant. Black or peeling silicone around a bath, shower or countertop. Cut out and renewed — it is one of the highest-impact items on the list because it is the thing that reads as “not cleaned” however clean it is.

Doors that no longer work properly. Catching, not latching, a handle that has gone loose, a closer that slams. Usually an adjustment rather than a replacement.

Running toilets and dripping faucets. Reported as wear, charged as damage. A fill valve or a cartridge.

Slow drains. Cleared, and cleared properly, not plunged until it moves.

Leaks under sinks. The cabinet nobody opened for a year. A trap or a connector.

Marks and scuffs where furniture sat, and the touch-in that makes them disappear.

Bulbs, batteries and smoke alarms. Trivial, and flagged every time.

How we work it

Quoted against the list, in writing, so you can see what is being done and decide what to leave.

In one visit where possible. The economics of small jobs are all in the travel, so a full list in one visit costs far less than picking off items.

Plumbing included. We are licensed plumbers, so the running toilet and the slow drain get fixed on the same visit as the shelf holes rather than needing a second trade.

A written note of what was done, item by item. If a deduction is later proposed for something we repaired, you have a dated record rather than a recollection.

Left clean. Dust contained, holes vacuumed, old fixings taken away.

Plumbing work is completed to the Florida Building Code, by a licensed Florida contractor, Lic. #CFC1433820.

For tenants

Book before the walkthrough, with enough lead time to order anything that needs ordering. The cheapest version of this job is the one that happens while there is still time; the most expensive is the one negotiated after a deduction has been proposed.

If your landlord or agent has already sent a list, send it to us as it is. We would rather work from their wording than from a summary.

For landlords and property managers

The same work, timed differently: between tenancies, before the next viewing rather than after the last inspection.

A property that shows well lets faster, and the small faults a departing tenant leaves are exactly the ones a new tenant reports in week one. Clearing them in one visit is cheaper than three reactive callouts in the first month. It pairs with property maintenance plans and, where a unit is being sold rather than re-let, with pre-listing and inspection repairs.

What the walkthrough is actually looking at

An inspection is not an opinion about how nice the property looks. It is a comparison against a document, carried out by someone working down a list.

That means the items that cost people money are the ones that are easy to photograph and hard to argue with: a hole, a stain, a black line of sealant, a door that does not close. Subjective wear — a carpet that is a year older, paint that has aged evenly — is much harder to charge for and usually is not.

So the work that protects a deposit is the work that removes photographable items. It is not the same as making the property look its best, and it is a great deal cheaper.

Bring the check-in report to the walkthrough if you have it. An inspector working from the same document as you is a far shorter conversation than one working from memory.

What affects the cost

• How long the list is, and whether it is done in one visit.
• Making good. Plain painted drywall is quick. Textured finishes, wallpaper and tile are not.
• Whether parts are needed, and whether they are stock items.
• Access. Buildings with booked service elevators and restricted hours take longer.
• How late it is left. Work booked with time is cheaper than work booked against a deadline.