Transforming tenant inventories in the cloud

Using an App to create a property inventory, interim or check-out report is not a new concept. Richard Abbots, founder of Inventory Hive, explains why paperless approval interaction and audit-trailed communication from the get-go has evolved the traditional App into something far more powerful.

PRODUCT | Inventory Hive

PRICE | Prices start at £20/month for agents, property managers, inventory clerks with unlimited users and reports across 50 properties

TARGET | Letting agents, inventory clerks, property managers, purpose built accommodation providers, block managers, landlords and the like

CHALLENGE | Disputes between tenants and landlords about cleanliness and condition is an age-old problem. More often than not it can be avoided, by establishing clear communication at the beginning of a tenure. However, often tenants/occupants don’t interact with their reports at this stage. There’s a few key reasons for this: they’re too busy to feed back within a week of moving-in, they don’t understand the value and importance of feeding back, or they simply can’t be bothered.

The risks of not having a mutually agreed report undoubtedly leads to disputes whereby the tenant/occupants defence is “It was like that when I moved-in”. In lots of instances that could be the case, but if it’s missed from the original report then it’s a recipe for disaster.

SOLUTION | Inventory Hive has an in-built paperless approval cycle – InventorySign. Once completed, reports can be sent via secure email with an automated SMS alert to the tenant/occupant. The emails can be sent in their native language (ideal for student market), making the simple 2-Step process easy to understand.

Tenants/occupants sign to confirm receipt of their report (not to approve). The agent is then informed by email, or via their online desktop dashboard tool that it’s safe to handover the keys. Of course, this can happen days before they’re due to collect the keys.

After moving-in tenants/occupants can view their electronic report straight from a desktop, tablet or mobile. This allows them to add comments against items and upload photos straight from their device’s camera if they spot an issue they’d like to raise.

Aside from in-built paperless approval cycles, Inventory Hive has been at the forefront of innovation by Integrating 360 degree camera technology with standard device photography into their apps and approval processes. Tenants can capture the entire room in one picture for robust ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison.

OUTCOMES | Providing easy access for occupants and encouraging interaction at the beginning of the tenure inevitably leads to a more detailed report. The more detailed the report about condition and cleanliness, fewer the disputes. For instance, we all have a different perception of what is deemed ‘Good’ condition. However, any significant issues are often clear-cut. As an example, there’s either a hole in the door or there’s not. If the tenant/occupant fed-back a minor stain in the living room at the beginning, but at the end there’s a minor stain and a great-big iron burn, it’s not plausible for them to come back with “it was like that before I moved in.”

Using Inventory Hive provides improved, more immersive experience for the tenant during approval process. The 3D photo option massively reduces time spent taking numerous individual photos of items, and reduces PDF file sizes with fewer individual pictures – ideal for storage and uploading to other platforms. Inventory Hive can be accessed via desktop, tablet or mobile.

Current clients using Inventory Hive include Reeds Rains, Hunters and Nicholas Humphreys.