How do I record a move-in or move-out inspection?
3 min readUpdated 25 Aug 2026For managers and estate staff
Short answer
Record it against the unit, at the time you walk it, with the condition of what you found. That record is the thing that settles a deposit argument eight months later without either side raising their voice.
Who are you?
This one reads the same whoever you are
The longer version
Nobody enjoys inspections, and nobody regrets the one they did. The whole value is in the pair: a record when they moved in and a record when they moved out, describing the same rooms.
When to do one
- Move-in, on the day, before the furniture arrives.
- Move-out, before the deposit conversation, not after it has started.
- Once a year on a long tenancy, so a slow problem is caught while it is still small.
- After a major repair, so you have a record of what was actually left behind.
The move-in inspection is the one that saves you money, and it is the one that gets skipped because everybody is busy and the tenant is standing there. Without it, every deposit dispute is one person’s memory against another’s.
Walk it with the tenant present. An inspection they watched you record is one they do not dispute later.
Still stuck?
If the answer is not here, it is worth us knowing. Tell us what you were trying to do and we will answer, then write the page.
Talk to a human