How to Inspect a Phuket Villa Before Renting

What does a villa inspection actually check?

We've watched plenty of viewings turn into a tour of the furniture. Someone admires the sofa, someone else opens the fridge, and everyone leaves knowing nothing about the house. You already saw the design in the photos. What you'll live with for months is the plumbing, the wiring and the air.

So we run it as a string of switch-ons. Everything that can work gets turned on, all at once if possible, and left running for a quarter of an hour; by then a weak pump, a noisy compressor or a breaker on the edge has usually given itself away.

We look up first. A brown ring on the ceiling. A skirting board gone soft at the bottom. Rust on the hinges, and that sweetish smell when you open a wardrobe. All of it is the last rainy season talking, and owners rarely mention it; honestly, many of them have never noticed.

Can't fly in before the lease starts? Send your dates and the number of bedrooms in the chat. We'll walk through the houses on your shortlist ourselves, in the order described below, and send you notes with the weak spots we found.

When is a full inspection a must?

For anything from a month up, don't skip it. A dripping tap is nothing on a holiday week; over six months it becomes a daily annoyance, and on the last day it can become a conversation about your deposit.

A short booking is different. The house comes with service, someone repairs whatever breaks, and all you really need is to try the air conditioners and the water on the first evening and message the owner if something's off.

And if you can't be there in person? Use a live video call, with you giving the directions. Ask the person holding the phone to open this tap, switch on that unit, point the camera at that ceiling corner, rather than letting them play a clip they filmed months ago. The remote version is described in detail on the page about booking before you arrive.

TipFilm the whole inspection on your phone and talk as you go. Six months later, at check-out, that recording is your strongest argument about what was already broken before you moved in.

How do you check water, power and air conditioning?

Water first. Turn on the top-floor shower and the kitchen tap together and watch what happens to the pressure; if it collapses, the pump is weak or a filter is clogged. Then wait for hot water. A few seconds is fine. Three minutes isn't.

Power next, under real load: two or three air conditioners, the kettle and the washing machine at once. If the breakers trip with an ordinary household's worth of appliances, you'll be rationing them for the whole stay. The meter matters too, and our page on electricity bills explains why.

Each air conditioner on its own

Give every unit about ten minutes. Is the air actually cold? Is there a hum or a rattle? Does it smell stale? That last one means the indoor unit hasn't been cleaned in a long time, and in a bedroom you'll notice it every single night.

Ask who cleans them and when it was last done. Here that's scheduled work, not an emergency.

Then the bathrooms, which is where ventilation shows. No window plus a dead extractor fan in this humidity means slow drying and, sooner or later, mould in the grout, however tidy you are.

Worth knowingA house on a well has its own water system with its own upkeep. Ask where the water comes from, whether the supply ever drops and what to do if the pressure goes, before you move in rather than on the first evening.

In what order should you walk the house?

We walk every house in the same order: outside, wet rooms, living rooms, then the pool and garden. A fixed route is the only way not to forget something while the owner is chatting to you.

Each item takes seconds. A skipped one tends to turn into weeks of messages.

The pool deserves a minute of its own. Water that is clear right down to the bottom and a pump that runs quietly say more than any promise, and our page on pool and garden care covers who pays for what.

• Water pressure and temperature at every tap, the top floor included
• Several air conditioners and appliances on at once — the breakers should hold
• Each air conditioner on its own: cold air, noise, smell
• Ceilings and corners: stains, streaks, bubbling paint
• The smell inside wardrobes and bedrooms — a sign of poor ventilation
• Mosquito screens on every window and door, and the seals around them
• Pool: clear water, a working pump, tiles and ladder in good order
• Hob, extractor, fridge and washing machine — switch everything on
• Meter readings, photographed in front of the owner
• Locks, gates and the outdoor lighting after dark

What should you ask the owner directly?

Some things cannot be seen on a walk-through and can only be asked. A good owner answers calmly, because they understand why you are asking.

The main questions are about the history of the house and the future around it: what has flooded, what was repaired recently, what is going up behind the fence, who lives next door.

Then ask who fixes things and how fast. 'Just call me and I will sort it out' needs turning into specifics: is there a technician on call, does he come the same day, who pays for the visit. Precise answers here tell you how the next months will go. If the house is for sale rather than for rent, the questions move to the title deed and the permits; see is it safe to buy property in Phuket.

How do you record what you found?

Everything you find is recorded before signing, not after. A list of defects with photos goes into an annex to the lease contract, and at check-out nobody can put someone else's chipped tiles on your bill.

If the owner promises to repair something, write it down with a deadline. Spoken promises made during a viewing get forgotten by both sides, honestly and with no bad intent.

Photograph the meter readings on move-in day with the date visible. It is the simplest step of all and the one most often skipped. A purchase adds a paper trail of its own, from the title deed to the building permit, listed in what a lawyer checks before a leasehold.