What should I check when turning my home into a rental?

Renting out the home you have lived in is different from buying an investment property. You know the house, you know its quirks, and that familiarity is exactly what makes it easy to miss things a renter will notice on day one. Once the home is a rental, it also sits under Victoria's renting laws, with minimum standards, safety related checks and rules about condition reports.

This guide is for owners about to become a rental provider for the first time, often called a landlord. It walks through what to check before the home is listed, which records to set up, and who to talk to. It sits within our series on rental property inspections in Victoria, which covers the inspections a rental property may need across its life.

What changes when your home becomes a rental?

Three things change. The home becomes someone else's home, with rules about entry, notice and privacy. It becomes subject to Victoria's rental minimum standards and to safety related checks, which rental providers are responsible for meeting and keeping up. And it becomes a property with records: a condition report at the start of the tenancy, routine inspections during it, and a record at the end that the bond conversation comes back to.

The practical consequence is that the home needs to be looked at with fresh eyes, and the state it is in on handover day needs to be written down. Our guide to what a rental inspection is and who it is for explains the kinds of inspection involved; this guide is about getting the home ready for them.

What should you check about the home's condition?

Walk the home as a stranger would, room by room, and write down what you see. Useful things to look for:

• Walls, ceilings and floors: cracks, stains, scuffs, loose tiles, worn carpet, soft spots in floors.
• Windows and doors: whether every window opens, closes and locks, whether doors latch, and the state of flyscreens and seals.
• Wet areas: grout, silicone, leaking taps, slow drains, exhaust fans that work, signs of mould in corners and on ceilings.
• Kitchen: cupboards and drawers that open and close, benchtops, the rangehood, the condition of any appliances that stay with the home.
• Heating and cooling: whether each unit runs, when it was last serviced, and whether filters are clean.
• Outside: gutters and downpipes, paths, steps, decks, fences, gates, the letterbox, the clothesline and the garage door.
• Things that go with the home: keys for every lock, remotes, manuals, and the bins.

Anything you plan to fix, fix before the photos are taken. Anything you plan to leave, make sure it is recorded. If the home is older, or has been empty for a while, an independent inspection of the home looks at the building's condition and signs of timber pest activity, so that larger repairs are known about before a renter is living with them.

Which minimum standards and safety items should you look at?

Victoria has minimum standards for rental properties and safety related checks that rental providers are responsible for. The detail and the timing are set by the renting laws and change from time to time, so confirm the current requirements with the official renting guidance or your property manager rather than relying on memory or a neighbour's experience.

Broadly, the areas the standards and checks tend to cover include locks on external doors, window coverings, heating, ventilation and fans, lighting, the condition of the bathroom and kitchen, mould and damp, structural soundness, and the safety of gas and electrical installations and smoke alarms. Some of these are visible and you can review them yourself; others, particularly gas, electrical and smoke alarm checks, are matters for the licensed trade that carries them out and keeps the records.

A rental inspection records the visible condition of the home and can note items you may want to review against the standards. It is not a compliance verdict, and it does not replace the trade checks. Treat it as a map of what to look into, with the official guidance as the authority on what applies.

What about pools, fences and the outside?

If the home has a pool or spa, the barrier is your responsibility as rental provider. Victoria has registration and barrier inspection requirements that sit with your council, and a renter's children will use the yard in ways yours may not have. Confirm the registration and certification position with your council before the home is listed, and read our guide to what a pool barrier inspection involves for what an independent check looks at. Our pool barrier checks also cover the visible condition of boundary fences and gates.

Outside the pool area, look at the things that cause trouble in a rental: a side gate that does not latch, a deck board that moves, a retaining wall that leans, a tree limb over the roof, and drainage that pools against the house after rain. None of these need to be perfect, but each one you know about is one you can plan for.

Which records should you set up before the first tenancy?

Records are what protect both sides when the tenancy ends. Set up these before the keys change hands:

1. A condition report at the start of the tenancy, prepared in the way Victoria's renting laws require. Check the official guidance for who provides it and when.
2. A dated, photo-supported record of every room, every surface and every fixture, made after cleaning and before handover. A dated condition record is the independent version of this, organised room by room so it can be compared with the record at the end.
3. The trade records for gas, electrical and smoke alarm checks, with dates.
4. The pool or spa registration and barrier paperwork, if there is a pool.
5. A list of keys, remotes and anything included with the home.
6. Manuals, warranties and the service history for appliances and heating.

Keep copies somewhere you can find when the tenancy ends. Routine inspections during the tenancy and the record at the end only make sense against the one at the start.

Who should you talk to before you list it?

A property manager, if you use one, handles entry, notice, routine inspections and the paperwork, and knows the current requirements. Tell your insurer the home is becoming a rental and ask whether your current policy still fits. Your accountant can explain the tax position, including depreciation; our page on depreciation schedules explains how we help you arrange a schedule and who prepares it. For anything about your legal obligations as a rental provider, the official renting guidance is the first stop, and a lawyer if a question is specific to your situation.

If you would like an independent look at the home before it is listed, tell us whether you want a condition record, a rental inspection or a building and pest inspection, and we'll confirm the scope. Call 0406 194 163 or send an enquiry with the address and your planned start date, and we'll come back to you.

Sources and authorities

These public sources set out the requirements this guide refers to. They are the places to confirm what applies to your property; we help you understand and prepare for them.

• Consumer Affairs Victoria: the minimum standards a rental property must meet.
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: gas and electrical safety obligations for rental providers.
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: condition reports at the start and end of a rental agreement.
• Building and Plumbing Commission: pool and spa barrier inspections and lodging a certificate of barrier compliance with your council.
• Australian Taxation Office: guidance on rental property income, deductions and depreciation.