Moving Into a Rental? What to Photograph Before You Unpack

Before you bring in the boxes, take photos of every room in your new rental. Start with a wide shot, then get closer to anything scratched, stained, chipped, broken, or missing. Add a short note about where it is, and keep the photos with your move-in checklist.

You are making a record of how the place looked when you got it. That record is much easier to create while the rooms are empty than six months later, when someone asks whether a mark was already there. You do not need special camera equipment. Your phone, a checklist, and a consistent route through the home are enough to get started.

Start with the move-in checklist

Ask your landlord or property manager for their condition checklist and instructions for submitting it. Check the deadline and where they want photos or additional notes sent. Do this early; there is no single reporting deadline that applies to every rental.

Our photo kit helps organize the pictures and notes. For a broader condition checklist, use our free printable move-in and move-out checklists. Complete any form your landlord requires as well.

Read an existing checklist before agreeing that it describes your apartment. If it says the kitchen floor is in good condition and you see a cracked tile, write down the crack and photograph it.

This is useful for both sides of the rental. HUD describes a move-in/move-out inspection form for landlords and families that records each room’s condition at the beginning and end of a tenancy.

One issue. Three useful views.

A close-up of a scratch does not tell someone which door it is on. A wide shot of the room may not show the scratch at all. Together, the photos answer both questions.

Illustrated example: the same vanity chip in all three views.

Pair it with a specific note: “Main bathroom: chip on the front-left vanity edge. Present at move-in. Photos 01–03.”

Walk through the home in the same order as your checklist. Finish one room before moving to the next. Check each photo before leaving the room so you can retake it if it is blurry or too dark. Photograph clean and undamaged areas, too.

What to photograph, room by room

Use this list while you complete the condition checklist. Open only the areas you can access safely, and leave repairs or specialist checks to the appropriate person.

Every room

Walls, ceilings, floors, baseboards, doors, and closets. Look for marks, holes, stains, cracks, damaged trim, and missing hardware.

Kitchen

Countertops, sink, cabinet fronts and interiors, and appliance interiors and exteriors. Note chips, residue, damaged shelves, loose handles, and visible moisture under the sink.

Bathrooms

Sink, vanity, toilet, tub or shower, tile, and accessible space under the sink. Note cracks, stains, damaged surfaces, missing fittings, and visible moisture.

Windows and doors

Frames, glass, screens, blinds, and accessible locks or latches. Note anything that does not open or close normally.

Laundry and additional spaces

Included washer and dryer, surrounding floor, and accessible connections. Document the balcony, patio, garage, storage area, or yard included with your rental, including damage or belongings left behind.

Give appliance interiors a little attention before filling them. An empty refrigerator, oven, or cabinet is easier to document than one full of groceries or dishes.

Avoid guessing about the cause of a problem. A photo of a dark patch can show what you saw, but it does not establish what caused it. Write “dark patch below bedroom window” and report it for assessment.

Give each photo a place in your record

Keep each note specific. “Bathroom damaged” leaves too much open to interpretation. Include the room, the item, its location, and what you observed. If you checked something and it did not work, describe what happened.

Page two of the fillable photo kit gives you space for these details and the date you observed each issue. For an example of how room notes and photos fit together, see this sample property condition report. Your own record can be a completed checklist with clearly labeled photos.

Separate the condition record from a repair request. Recording a loose handle tells someone it was there; explicitly asking for repair makes the next step clear. Use your landlord’s maintenance process for problems that need attention. Our repair request messages and tracker can help you describe the issue and keep track of the response. Report urgent problems promptly rather than waiting to finish the checklist.

Photos or video? Use photos as the starting point

A short walkthrough video can help show how the rooms connect. Move slowly, pause at issues, and say which room you are in. Still take individual photos of the details you want recorded. A clear photo is easier to attach to a note than asking someone to find a small chip halfway through a video.

Keep the original files. If you make a marked-up copy to point out a problem, save it alongside the original. Check that your phone’s date and time are correct, but do not rely on a timestamp alone to explain when or where a photo was taken. Keep the photos, dated checklist, and related messages together.

Send it with a clear message

Submit the completed checklist and photos using the instructions you were given. Keep a copy of what you sent and the message or confirmation showing the submission. If you use an album or folder link, check that the intended recipient can open it. Share it privately; inspection photos may include your address, belongings, or other personal information.

Keep a backup separate from your phone. A folder such as address-unit / move-in-YYYY-MM-DD, with photos named bathroom-01-room, bathroom-02-location, and bathroom-03-detail, is easier to find later than pictures mixed into your camera roll.

Already unpacked or found something later?

Document what you can see now. Use the actual date, describe when you first noticed the issue, and send it through the appropriate reporting channel. If furniture blocks an area, note that instead of presenting the record as complete.

Some problems only become apparent after using the home. A drain may run slowly, or an appliance may stop partway through a cycle. Record what happened and when, then report it. Do not describe a later photo as a move-in photo or claim that it establishes an earlier condition.

The Kentucky Attorney General’s rental housing guidance recommends photographing or listing pre-existing damage and poor conditions. The practical point is to record what you actually observe and keep that record. Requirements and legal remedies depend on where you live; photos do not guarantee a deposit refund.

Keep the record for move-out

Save your move-in photos and checklist somewhere you can find them when it is time to leave. At move-out, photograph the same areas after your belongings are out and cleaning is finished. Similar angles make the two records easier to compare.

For that later walkthrough, read our room-by-room move-out inspection checklist for landlords. Renters can use it to understand the areas covered and organize their own condition notes.

Before you unpack, give yourself a chance to record the empty rooms. Clear photos, specific notes, and a saved copy give you something concrete to refer to when a question comes up later.