The keys are yours, the removal van is waiting and the empty rooms look ready. This is also the easiest moment to record the property’s condition. Once rugs, boxes and furniture arrive, small existing marks become harder to locate and explain.
A useful move-in record is more than a camera roll full of close-ups. It should show where each observation belongs, what you noticed and when you communicated it. The aim is a shared starting point, not a dramatic catalogue of faults.
Work from the room to the detail
Take a wide view of each room, then closer images of relevant marks or damage. A close-up of chipped paint is much more useful when another photograph shows which door frame it belongs to. Keep original files and their dates; avoid filters that change colour or contrast.
Use simple filenames or a numbered list: “Kitchen, lower cupboard beside sink, hinge loose.” Separate visible observations from guesses about their cause. You can report a stain without claiming to know whether it came from a leak.
Read the inventory while standing in the property
The UK government’s How to rent guide discusses agreeing a check-in inventory and keeping photographs. That guidance concerns England; tenancy processes, deadlines and deposit rules differ elsewhere, so check current local requirements and your agreement.
Compare descriptions with what is actually present. “Good condition” may need an added note about an existing scratch. Record missing keys, supplied appliances and any agreed follow-up, while avoiding unsafe tests or dismantling equipment.
Send one organised correction
If the report needs amendment, use the agreed communication channel promptly. Reference the room, inventory entry and image number. Ask for acknowledgment and retain the reply with the inventory rather than relying on a telephone conversation you may remember differently later.
For example: “The living-room window frame has the existing mark shown in photos 12 and 13. Please add this to item 4.” That is easier to resolve than sending fifteen images with the message “Lots wrong here.”
Urgent safety or repair concerns need their own prompt report; documenting them does not replace getting help. Once the record is agreed, keep it somewhere accessible through the tenancy. On moving day, a short, methodical pause can save a much longer argument about what the room looked like before your belongings arrived.