When Brad introduced the 3 minute in home visit to us on this forum, he mentioned that a bit of clutter is to be expected. This seems reasonable, but recent experience with bad move outs have left me with the idea that whatever deficiency in the housekeeping at 3 minute inspect will be magnified and multiplied at lease end with me. Dirty laundry piles is a tell of a person who will leave a big clean up job for me.

While the complete disaster house is as easy to reject as the the immaculate house is to approve, what kind of mess is acceptable?

What are your findings on the issue? What level of clutter truly is a non issue? Most useful tells of one to avoid?

How clean is the yard?

Would you rent to yourself? Is your house immaculate at all times? Mine isn't, and an impromptu inspection would leave me apologizing for something that isn't perfect, I'm sure.

People LIVE in long-term rentals. So you have to factor in the just living. And have visitors. This week we have had 11 people staying here, not counting DH and me.

Looking around my living room right now, I have my grandson's truck table thing, a leather ottoman with the top off as he was sitting in it, some band-aids and a first-aid kit are on the floor near a chair (not sure why.) A bag of chips is sitting on an end table. A dog is on the couch, the cat is on the puzzle table in the middle of the on-going puzzle.

Dining Table is empty but not wiped down. Cushions on the floor under the table because grandson was playing under there.

Kitchen cleaned but very cluttered with all the left-over food DS#1 brought over as he left to go home from his AirBnB. Bathroom is decorated with drying swim suits.

ONE guest room is spotless - that guest went home a few days ago.

The rest of the bedrooms: all rather look like various clothes bombs went off.

There are three dogs and a cat - dogs would bark and raise chaos.

Next week DH will be home by himself. He's not a housekeeper. At all.

I asked someone to do an in-home visit for an approved applicant (I was out of town). They reported that it was clean, smelled fine, but there was a LOT of stuff. Good condition stuff (not hoarder-level), but boxes and boxes of stuff as she was cleaning out and preparing to move.

I approved her, and she moved in. Three years later, she's still there--and so is her stuff. So much that I couldn't get into two of the three bedrooms. It's clean stuff. I think she's a shopaholic, because every time I do a maintenance visit it's different stuff. She buys stuff, sells or gives away the other stuff, rinses and repeats.

Sisco,

Great question!

I define CLUTTER as the CURRENT stuff of living in a home, esp with children.

Bikes in the yard, toys, folding laundry in front of the TV, storage boxes stacked and labeled, pizza box and empty drinks on the table from last night's late movie, litter box with a few tokens, dishes IN the sink, unmade beds (Hae you TRIED getting kids to school on time?!!), dog barks at stranger, All OK.

Peeling paint or cracked step is LL's problem.

Tree growing thru bike in yard - No.

3 years of trash and free ad papers on the porch - No.

Filthy front door with boot kick marks - No.

Biggest: Stink - No.

Overly perfumed, super strong candle scents - That is your WARNING!

Crayon on walls, stains on floor or couch, holes punched in wall or doors - No.

Broken blinds, animal digs in carpet, dog scratches on doors, cat claw marks on drapes and couch -No.

Dogs do not settle down, cannot be controlled by res - No.

Multiple poo in yard and overflowing litter box - No.

Dog chain in yard with a mud circle and the bark worn off the tree, dog pen made of scrap sheet metal - No.

All from real life visits.

BRAD

Basically the same as Brad. My house isn't perfect, but we keep it in a constant state of reasonably picked up on the off chance we invite friends or family over for dinner last minute. Just takes a couple of hours to spruce up.

The 2-minute home visit is the ONE time I "go with my gut", because my gut can tell what is/isn't normal living vs. slovenly grossness. Damages are a definite "NO GO". Although, mini-blinds have turned into a profit center for my biz. My cost to purchase is $12-$15 and I bill out at $35 per blind.

I'll add a few to the list.

Many holes dug in the yard not filled in that have grass growing in them (i.e. they've been there a long time). No.

Bugs (roaches). No.

Kool-aid spills on the carpet. Even though my houses don't have carpets any more. No.

Non-functional vehicle parked anywhere on the property. No.

I'm mostly looking for smells and damage. Pet odors, smoking odors, drug paraphernalia, filth, and mold in the bathrooms.

I give a 24 hour notice that I will be there for the inspection. If they can get the house cleaned up so it looks nice in 24 hours, they can get it clean when they move out, or at a minimum, I can get it cleaned out of their security deposit. They won't be able to patch holes in the walls or remove smoking odor with that sort of time frame.

You can tell by the smell.

Stripper pole mounted in center of living room. Prospect kept asking if my husband would be picking up rent. I never mentioned a husband.

In my notes, I rejected because of lit incense sticks on end table next to sleeping toddler. I first noticed those as I accidentally knocked them off. Floor covered in little burn marks. Yeah, let’s not leave lit materials by toddlers.