Practical resources for property managers and maintenance teams: make ready and inspection checklists, appliance lifespans, move-out charges, capital planning and the KPIs that matter. Free to use, print and share.
These guides are written for apartment operators, not homeowners. Each one starts with the practical answer: how long a water heater lasts, what belongs on a make ready checklist, how to read a repairs and maintenance budget variance. Then it covers what changes when you manage hundreds of units instead of one.
Where a guide uses numbers from outside sources, such as appliance lifespans, insurance terms or recall procedures, the sources are listed at the bottom of the page. Where rules vary by state, the guide says so. Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.
The checklists are based on the paper forms Invendoory was built from: a working operator’s quarterly site inspection sheet, its annual unit inspection and its make ready walk sheet with an 82-item supply list. Print them, adapt them, or run the same checklists in Invendoory, where finished work updates each unit’s inventory by itself.
Printable checklists built from the forms Invendoory was modeled on: make ready, inspections, preventive maintenance and supplies.
A printable yes/no annual unit inspection checklist, room by room, with notes on notice rules and turning fails into work orders.
The 82-item maintenance supply list from a real make ready sheet, with guidance on par levels, low-stock thresholds and write-in supplies.
What a good property inspection report contains, with a free template layout you can copy or print.
A free, printable apartment make ready checklist grouped by room and stage, based on the paper walk sheet Invendoory was built from.
A matching move-in and move-out inspection checklist, by room, with guidance on damage versus normal wear.
Monthly, quarterly, seasonal and annual maintenance tasks for apartment communities, in a printable checklist.
A scored quarterly property inspection form for apartment sites, with unit sampling, section scores and a printable checklist.
A printable rental inspection checklist for landlords and property managers, covering the exterior, every room, systems and safety devices.
How long apartment appliances last, what counts as normal wear and tear, how to plan capital spend and which maintenance numbers to watch.
Two schedules, two jobs: IRS tax depreciation for your return, and a useful-life schedule for move-out charges and insurance values.
A sourced appliance life expectancy chart for every common apartment appliance and finish, with the range each source gives and how to plan replacements across a portfolio.
How to check an appliance recall by model number using CPSC and manufacturer pages, and why a model-level inventory tells you which units to pull.
How to read repairs and maintenance budget variance at a property, what usually causes it, and a worked example with illustrative numbers.
How apartment operators plan replacements, from unit interiors to building systems, and use remaining life to forecast capex by year.
Carpet life expectancy from NAHB, InterNACHI and Fannie Mae, how depreciation drives a fair move-out charge, and how to track carpet age across units.
How shared and roving maintenance teams work across apartment properties, the pros and cons, and what you need in place before you try it.
How to calculate vacancy loss per day, with a worked example, and where apartment turns slow down and cost you rent.
Garbage disposal life expectancy from NAHB, InterNACHI and Fannie Mae, how to find a disposal’s age from its serial number, and how to track disposals across units.
HVAC lifespan for furnaces, central AC, heat pumps and PTACs, why useful life differs from service life, and how to plan replacements across a portfolio.
The maintenance KPIs that matter for apartment communities, how to calculate each one, and which numbers Invendoory’s dashboard and Maintenance Performance report show.
What an apartment make ready board tracks, a free template you can copy, and when a live turn schedule is worth switching to.
What property operations covers in an apartment community, who does what, and where maintenance data fits into the rest of the operation.
Normal wear and tear versus damage, item by item, with fair prorated charges and the move-in and move-out records that back them.
What a property condition assessment covers, how ASTM E2018 frames it, and how an item-level inventory with ages and photos speeds up multifamily due diligence.
Refrigerator life expectancy from NAHB, InterNACHI, Fannie Mae and DOE, how to find a refrigerator’s age from the serial, and how to track replacements and recalls across units.
What a reserve study includes, how components and remaining useful life drive the funding plan, and where unit-level inventory data helps.
What a statement of values is, the columns insurers expect for apartment communities, and how item-level inventory backs up the numbers.
Dryer life expectancy and washing machine life expectancy from NAHB, InterNACHI and DOE, why dryer vents matter for fire risk, and how to track laundry appliances across units.
Water heater lifespan by type, what shortens it, how to read the age, the signs of failure, strapping rules and how to plan replacements across a portfolio.
The make ready meaning in plain terms: the inspection, repairs, paint and cleaning that get a vacant apartment rentable, who does each step and how long it takes.
Enter a brand and serial number to see when a water heater, HVAC unit or appliance was made, how old it is and how much of its typical life is used.
Prorate a move-out charge from an item’s age, expected life, replacement cost and condition, using the same straight-line formula as Invendoory’s Prorate Calculator.
Yes. Every checklist and guide on this page is free to read, print and adapt for your own properties. The checklists print cleanly from your browser, and you can copy the tables into your own forms. If you want the same checklists to run on a phone with photos, scores and sign-offs, the live demo shows how they work in Invendoory.
The Invendoory team writes them for apartment property managers, maintenance supervisors and regionals. Product details come from the app itself, and industry figures such as appliance lifespans or recall procedures come from the sources listed at the bottom of each guide, so you can check the numbers yourself.
No. Topics like normal wear and tear, security deposit deductions, appliance depreciation and statements of values depend on state law, your lease and your insurer. The guides explain how these work in general and point to sources. Confirm anything that affects a resident charge, a tax return or a policy with counsel, a CPA or your broker.
Invendoory runs the same work these guides describe: inspections, make ready turns, work orders and parts, all on a room-by-room record of what is installed in each unit. When a turn is verified or a replacement is completed, that record updates itself. The guides stand on their own, but the product is there if you want to stop doing it on paper.
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