Move-in day: the 27-item checklist

Every move-in dispute six months later comes back to what you did or did not document on move-in day. This is the exact checklist our leasing team runs on every home. It takes about 90 minutes end to end, most of which is walk-through time you would spend anyway.

48 hours before move-in

1. 1Confirm all funds are cleared. Certified check, wire, or bank ACH only. No personal checks. No Venmo.
2. 2Confirm renters insurance is bound and you are named as an additional interested party.
3. 3Utility transfer confirmed by each provider (electric, gas, water, trash).
4. 4HVAC filter replaced.
5. 5All light bulbs working, including closets and exterior.
6. 6Smoke and CO detectors tested, batteries new.
7. 7Locks re-keyed since the last tenant. New codes on any smart locks.
8. 8Home professionally cleaned within 72 hours.
9. 9Yard mowed and edged within 72 hours.
10. 10Print two copies of the move-in inspection form.
11. 11Print two copies of the fully signed lease.
12. 12Prepare welcome packet with local trash pickup, HOA rules if applicable, and emergency contact.

Move-in day, at the property

1. 1Walk the exterior together. Note every crack, chip, or damage on the inspection form.
2. 2Walk each room systematically. Ceiling, walls, floor, windows, fixtures.
3. 3Photograph every wall in every room. Both parties present.
4. 4Test every appliance: dishwasher, oven, microwave, fridge, disposal, washer, dryer.
5. 5Test every faucet, hot and cold, and every toilet flush.
6. 6Test HVAC on heat and on cool. Confirm airflow at every vent.
7. 7Confirm all keys, garage remotes, mail keys, gate keys accounted for.
8. 8Walk the applicant through the breaker box, water shutoff, and gas shutoff.
9. 9Both parties sign the inspection form. Provide the tenant a copy immediately.
10. 10Provide lead-based paint disclosure if home was built before 1978.

The systematic walk is not optional. Skipping a room to be polite is how you end up unable to charge for a hole in the wall five months later, because you never documented that the wall was intact when you handed over the keys. If it took the tenant an hour to walk the home with you, that is the correct investment.

Within 24 hours after move-in

1. 1Upload signed inspection form and every photo to your cloud folder.
2. 2Send tenant the welcome email with rent portal login, maintenance request link, and your contact.
3. 3Schedule the 30-day check-in on your calendar now.
4. 4Deposit funds and record in your accounting.
5. 5File the executed lease in your document system.

The welcome packet that pays for itself

A one-page welcome packet is the cheapest customer service investment you can make. Include the trash and recycling schedule, the location of the water shutoff, HVAC filter size and change interval, HOA parking rules if any, and your preferred contact method. A tenant who does not have to text you at 8pm to ask which day is recycling day is a tenant who thinks you are a competent operator.

The 30-day check-in

Text or email the tenant on day 30 with three questions: Is anything not working? Is anything unclear about the home? Anything I can help with? Two minutes of proactive contact prevents 90 percent of maintenance escalations later, because small issues get raised while they are still small.

The tenants who never hear from their landlord are the same ones who stop reporting a slow drip until it becomes a $4,000 subfloor replacement. Proactive contact is not friendliness. It is loss prevention.