We wiped, scrubbed, vacuumed, mopped, polished all Sunday afternoon and Monday night in preparation for a property inspection yesterday. We really didn’t need to do a thorough cleaning of the whole apartment but wasn’t sure if the inspector would be fussy or not. In our previous experiences, they would normally have a checklist of items they’d inspect like walls, flyscreens, floor/carpet, range hood, etc. If they’re satisfied, they’d tick off the item but if they’re not, then they’d put in a comment as to why he/she wasn’t happy with the general state of the item - usually, this means we forgot to wipe the hood of the stove or they may be stubborn grease that still needs cleaning). As a tenant, you want all the items ticked on the first inspection since they would usually return for subsequent inspections to make sure that the problem has been remedied. This usually happens several days after the first inspection and although the items that have already been ticked off may not be checked, we usually make sure that everything’s clean to satisfy the inspector.

As you can guess, this could be a real hassle - I mean, we generally keep things tidy but who knows if the inspector would be satisfied with that or not. So, everytime we get a property inspection notice, we try to do an extraordinary job of cleaning everything to pass the inspection.

First thing we looked for after we came home from work yesterday is the checklist that inspectors usually leave on the dining table or kitchen counter. To our surprise, we only found a business card on the dining table. Gj theorised that we have passed the inspection and felt a bit cheated, all that hard work and not even a note with tick marks on it?

That was before I grabbed the card to have a closer look and noticed that there was writing on the other side. It said, “Property looks fantastic! Thanks.” That’s the card in the photo on top of the stove that Gj cleaned and polished until it literally shined.