I've been a landlord for 6 years. The single biggest lesson I learned? Document everything — or lose everything.

My first year, a tenant trashed the kitchen cabinets and stained the carpet beyond repair. Total damage: ~$3,200. I had move-in photos... on my phone... somewhere. Couldn't find half of them. No timestamps. No organized report. The tenant disputed everything. I got $0 from the security deposit.

That experience haunted me. So I started building a system:

1. Standardize your walkthrough — Same rooms, same angles, every time. Front door → living room → kitchen → bedrooms → bathrooms → exterior.

1. Timestamp every photo — Courts care about when photos were taken. If you can't prove the damage happened during the tenancy, it doesn't count.

1. Use local repair pricing — Don't guess. A judge won't accept "I think it costs $500 to fix." Get actual contractor rates for your area.

1. Generate a professional report — Side-by-side before/after comparisons with itemized costs. This is what wins disputes.

I built ClaimMaster AI to automate all of this. Upload your photos, it detects the damages, pulls local pricing, and generates the report in minutes.

But even if you don't use our tool — please, document your properties. Your future self will thank you.