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Rental Turnover and Punch Lists in West Chester, PA

One visit, the whole list, photographs of what was done. For landlords and property managers this is usually the difference between a turnover taking four days and taking one.

Prefer to text? Feel free to include a few photos — it helps us give a faster, more accurate estimate.

The borough licence cycle is a fixed annual deadline

West Chester Borough requires an annual rental licence. To get one you pay the fee, file a tenant-landlord form listing occupants and whether they are students, and pass a health and safety inspection. Licences run July 1 to June 30. Renewals go out in June. Existing properties are inspected on a rolling schedule through the year, and if a property has not been inspected in the last year it needs one before the licence is approved.

The tenant-landlord form also has to be updated any time tenants change.

What that produces is a predictable list of small items, every year, on a deadline — and small items on a deadline is exactly the work most trades do not want and we do.

It matters that this is happening in old buildings. Roughly half of the borough's buildings date from the 1830–1930 building boom, and much of the rental stock sits in one of the borough's three National Register historic districts. In a pre-1930 twin the recurring inspection items are not random — they are the same handful every year, because they come from the building: doors that have dropped in racked openings and will not latch, sash windows that will not stay up or will not lock, loose stair railings on original staircases, and plaster damage from the last tenancy.

What the job includes

• one visit for the whole list instead of four trades on four days
• between-tenant turnovers on a date you give us
• the small stuff inspectors and buyers write up — smoke alarms, handrails, missing covers, sticking doors
• photos of what was done, so you have something to send the owner
• realtor punch lists ahead of a settlement date

What is usually on the list

• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms — missing, dead, or past their replacement date
• Handrails and guardrails that are loose or missing on stairs
• Doors that do not close or latch, including bedroom and basement doors
• Missing cover plates, damaged outlets and switches
• Windows that will not open, will not stay open, or will not lock
• Damaged drywall and plaster from the last tenancy
• Locks rekeyed between tenants
• The paint and patch list that decides how the place shows

Student properties

A "student home" — two or more unrelated students living together — is a separate use under the borough zoning code, and a new one requires special approval. That is a zoning matter and it is yours, not ours.

What is ours is the consequence: student properties turn over on a compressed summer schedule, they take harder wear than a family let, and the work is the same twelve items every year. If you have several, tell us the dates and we will run them together — the more of them in one run the better it works.

Often paired with: Door, Window and Lock Repair · Drywall Repair

For realtors

The same applies to a home inspection list before a settlement date. Those are almost always ten to twenty small things across five trades, and they have a hard date attached. Send the report, tell us the date, and we will tell you what on it is ours and what genuinely needs a licensed trade — we are not going to claim the electrical panel item to win the job.

Frequently asked questions

Serving Chester County

This page covers West Chester. See all of our rental turnover and punch lists work, or what we do across West Chester and the rest of Chester County.