QSS began in 2006 by Lisa Davis-Isaacs. Whilst working in property management she decided to make it standard practice to record in-depth inventories during the check-in of every property she was involved with.
This approach proved so vital to the landlords and agents Lisa was dealing with that QSS was born. 8 years on it is still baffling to Lisa why approved inventory procedures aren’t a legal requirement when renting a property.
Lisa started out creating her own spreadsheets and reports to take inventories based on the approved format from the Official National Association of Estate Agents. This was part of why she was attracted to InventoryBase as it also uses the approved layout for its reports.
Lisa says: “[InventoryBase] is so simple to use and because of the layout I can easily put the information from my previous reports into the software without any hassle.”
Lisa trialled a lot of software before deciding on InventoryBase. She found the majority to be unnecessarily fussy or with unfamiliar report layouts that didn’t make sense. InventoryBase stood out as it ‘flowed well’ and was easily viewed and understood by third parties.
Settling Disputes.
In the last 6 months InventoryBase has been crucial to QSS in 6 disputes between landlord and tenant. With cases ranging from the property not being left clean to excessive damage.
The InventoryBase reports were used as proof in each case because of the accurate nature of the text descriptions and date stamped photos.
In addition, the approved layout presented all the information in a clear and accessible way so that the third party reading the report and making the ultimate decision in the case could find all the information they needed easily.
Ways of working.
Because of her experience taking inventories Lisa tends to carry out her inventories in her own way and then uses InventoryBase on her desktop to type them up at the office. Because the software is so flexible she’s glad she can use it her way and clerks newer to the industry can use tablets on-site to do it their way too.
“One of my favourite things about the system is that it adapts with you as a clerk. The fact the InventoryBase remembers your own personal wording makes it easier and easier to put together reports. The more you write the more it remembers your favourite words and phrases.
I also love the way that when you are carrying out a check-out the complete check-in report is brought up at your fingertips so you have an accurate record of the state of the property at the start of the tenancy to compare with the state at the end.”
Lisa’s favourite part of the job is meeting the tenants – especially at check-out. She has found that because InventoryBase is so clear she is able to demonstrate to tenants what they could do to make sure the property is left in the correct way helping to get their full deposit back.
For more information on QSS click here.
For more information on InventoryBase click here.