Getting organised
How to keep rental property records organised
Published · Hovora
Good records are not about having everything. They are about being able to answer a question — from a tenant, an accountant, an insurer or a buyer — without reconstructing history from memory.
The three questions records need to answer
- What happened at this property, and when? — maintenance history
- What did it cost, and what for? — expense history
- What did we agree, and until when? — documents and dates
If your records can answer those three, they are good enough. If they cannot, more filing will not help — the structure is wrong.
Record things when they happen
The single biggest improvement is timing, not format. An expense recorded the day it happened carries the context — which property, what for, who did it. The same expense recorded in March from a bank statement is a number and a guess.
How long to keep things
Retention rules vary by country, and the tax authority where the property sits is the one that decides. Check the specific requirement for your jurisdiction rather than following a number you read online.
As a practical matter: keep anything relating to the purchase for as long as you own the property, and keep maintenance history for as long as it might affect a warranty claim or a sale.
This is general information about organising records, not tax or legal advice. For anything with a filing deadline attached, ask an accountant who works in the relevant country.
Do not delete history when a plan or a tenant changes
The record of what a property cost and what was done to it outlives any particular tenancy, and usually outlives your interest in the listing. Archive rather than delete.