App builder

Walk each rental with a property inspection app
and keep every room’s condition on record.

Describe your rentals and Netiva’s AI builds a web app for move-in, move-out and routine inspections, room by room with photos and tenant sign-off — and code you own.

Start building free More app ideas
Starter prompt

Build a rental inspection web app for a property management company with 120 units. Store units with address, bedrooms, owner, tenant names, tenant email, lease end and security deposit. Inspectors sign in, start a move-in, move-out or routine inspection on a phone and walk it room by room, rating each item Good, Fair, Poor, Damaged, Missing or Not present with notes and photos. Email the finished report to the tenant, who signs in, comments on any item within seven days and signs off with their typed name. For move-outs, show each item next to its move-in condition and let me add deposit charges with a reason.

Build it in Netiva Paste the prompt into a new workspace and adjust it to your business.
Overview

Who this property inspection app is for

When a tenant moves out, the security deposit often comes down to one question: what did the unit look like on move-in day? For many landlords, the answer is a paper checklist in a filing cabinet and hundreds of unlabeled photos on someone’s phone. A property inspection app built with Netiva records move-in, move-out and routine inspections room by room, with photos attached to each item and the tenant’s sign-off on the report. At move-out, you see both inspections side by side and list any deposit charges item by item.

Key features

What your property inspection app can do

  • Room-by-room checklists

    Each inspection copies its item list from the unit’s last one — kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living areas and exterior — so every inspector rates the same items in the same order.

    • Condition ratings from Good to Damaged or Missing
    • Separate item lists for move-in, move-out and routine visits
    • Smoke alarm and meter checks as items, with readings typed into the notes
    • A first item list for a new unit drafted by the collection assistant

  • Photos filed by room and item

    Inspectors add photos from the phone’s browser to the exact item they show, so a stained carpet in bedroom 2 never gets mixed up with the hallway runner.

    • Several photos per item, each saved with the time it was added
    • Short captions such as “burn mark left of the sink”
    • The same item’s photos from every past inspection on the unit page
    • Nothing to install on the inspector’s phone

  • Move-in and move-out side by side

    When a tenant leaves, the move-out report lines up each item with its move-in condition and photos, so you can separate normal wear from damage and note a charge next to the evidence.

    • Items whose condition changed listed first
    • Deposit charges logged per item with a reason
    • An itemized deposit statement with the balance to return
    • A statement due date from the number of days your state allows

  • Tenant review and sign-off

    Tenants sign in, see only their own unit’s reports, comment on anything they read differently and sign off, while scheduled emails take care of notices and reminders.

    • Report link emailed to the tenant when an inspection is finished
    • Comments on individual items during a review window you set
    • Typed-name sign-off saved with the date and time
    • Notice emails sent ahead of each routine visit
Data model

The collections behind it

Netiva keeps your records in built-in collections. Here’s a starting structure — the agent adapts it to your prompt, and you can change it any time.

Units

Every rental you inspect, with the current tenancy and the deposit held.

  • Address (required) Text
  • Unit Apartment or suite number; blank for a single-family home Text
  • Bedrooms (required) How many bedroom sections a new item list needs Number
  • Owner Name and email for units you manage for someone else; owner summaries go here Text
  • Tenant names Text
  • Tenant email Tenants sign in with this address to see their reports Text
  • Lease end Date
  • Security deposit Amount held, carried onto the deposit statement Number

Inspections

One record per visit, from scheduling through the tenant’s sign-off.

  • Unit (required) Relation to Units
  • Type (required) Move-in, Move-out, Routine or Pre-move-out Text
  • Scheduled for (required) Date & time
  • Inspector (required) Filled in from the signed-in inspector Text
  • Status (required) Scheduled, In progress, With tenant, Signed, Disputed or Closed Text
  • Tenant sign-off The tenant’s typed full name Text
  • Signed at Date & time
  • Keys returned on Move-outs only; the deposit statement due date counts from here Date

Checklist items

Each thing checked in each room, with its condition, the tenant’s comment and any charge.

  • Inspection (required) Relation to Inspections
  • Room (required) Kitchen, Bathroom 1, Bedroom 2, Exterior… Text
  • Item (required) Walls, flooring, blinds, range, smoke alarm… Text
  • Condition (required) Good, Fair, Poor, Damaged, Missing or Not present Text
  • Notes Free text, including meter readings and smoke alarm test results Paragraph
  • Tenant comment Added by the tenant during review Paragraph
  • Deposit charge Move-outs only; left blank for normal wear and tear Number
  • Charge reason Cleaning, Repair or Replacement Text

Photos

Evidence for a single checklist item, several per item if needed.

  • Checklist item (required) Relation to Checklist items
  • Photo (required) Image
  • Caption Text
  • Added at (required) Date & time
  • Added by (required) Filled in from the signed-in inspector Text

Required field. Types are Netiva collection field types.

Screens

Pages and screens to start with

A typical first version. Ask the agent for more, or annotate the preview to change any of them.

  • Inspection board

    Upcoming, in-progress and overdue inspections by date and type, plus every report still waiting on a tenant.

    Your team

  • Walkthrough

    A phone-sized checklist that moves room by room: tap a condition, add notes and photos, finish the room and go to the next one.

    Your team

  • Move-out comparison

    Each item’s move-in and move-out condition and photos in two columns, with a place to enter a deposit charge and its reason.

    Your team

  • Deposit statement

    A printable, itemized list of charges with photos, the deposit held, the balance to return and the date the statement is due.

    Your team

  • My inspections

    The tenant’s own reports: read each room, comment on items and sign off before the review window closes.

    Signed-in users

  • Unit history

    Every inspection of one unit, the current tenant and lease end, and photos of the same item across past tenancies.

    Your team
How it works

From prompt to a live property inspection app

  1. Describe your rentals

    Tell Netiva what kinds of units you manage, which inspections you run and how tenants should review reports. The agent drafts collections for units, inspections, checklist items and photos.

  2. Draft the room checklists

    Enter your units in the collection grid, then ask the collection assistant to draft the first item list for each kind of unit — a studio, a two-bedroom apartment, a house with a yard — and edit it to fit.

  3. Walk a unit in the preview

    Open the walkthrough on your phone and inspect a real room. Annotate the preview wherever a button is too small or a step is missing, and the agent changes it.

  4. Publish and invite tenants

    Publish in one click and send tenants the link; they sign in with the email on their unit. Switch on notice emails, and roll back any later change from its checkpoint.

Why Netiva

Netiva vs a traditional build

Building a property inspection app with Netiva compared with a traditional build
Criterion With Netiva Traditional build
Condition evidence Photos stored with the room and item they show, and the time each one was added A paper checklist in a file and unlabeled photos on someone’s phone
Deposit deductions Move-in and move-out conditions side by side, with each charge tied to a specific item Move-in notes dug out of a folder and compared from memory
Getting started Describe what you need in chat and watch it take shape in a live preview Hire developers, or stitch together templates, plugins and a hosting plan
Content and data Built-in collections with nine field types, bound straight to your pages Set up and connect a separate database or CMS
Making changes Ask the agent; every change is checkpointed and reversible File a ticket, wait for a sprint, redeploy
Hosting and domain Global hosting and automatic SSL; connect a custom domain from the Starter plan Buy hosting, then install and renew SSL certificates yourself
Code ownership Clean production code you own and can export Locked into a template, plugin or agency setup
Examples

Ways teams use it

  • A landlord with six single-family rentals

    The owner handles every move-in and move-out personally. Each house has its own checklist, and the unit history shows how the kitchen floor looked across three tenancies, which helps when deciding whether it’s time to replace it.

  • A management company with field inspectors

    Two inspectors run routine visits across a few hundred doors. The board shows who is going where this week, tenants get a notice email beforehand and each owner receives a photo summary once a report is signed.

  • Student housing leased by the bedroom

    Most leases end in the same August week. Each bedroom is set up as its own unit with its own tenant sign-off, while kitchens and lounges get a shared checklist, so common-area notes stay apart from each resident’s report.

Good to know

Before you build

  • Not a licensed home inspection

    This app records a rental’s condition for you and your tenant. It isn’t a home inspection for a buyer — many states license home inspectors — and it doesn’t replace code enforcement, rental registration or housing voucher inspections.

  • Deposit rules differ by state

    Washington requires a signed move-in checklist with any deposit. California sets 21 days for an itemized statement; since April 2025 it also requires photos after the tenant leaves and after any repairs or cleaning you deduct for, plus move-in photos for leases from July 2025.

  • Notice before you enter

    Your lease and state law decide when you may enter for an inspection and how much notice to give; in California, 24 hours’ written notice is presumed reasonable. The app sends the notices you schedule — it doesn’t check the rule for you.

  • Signatures and disputes

    A typed-name sign-off records that the tenant reviewed the report. If your lease or state calls for a specific signed form, connect an e-signature provider through its API or have the tenant sign a printed copy.

FAQ

Questions about building a property inspection app

Is a property inspection app the same as a home inspection report?

No. This app documents a rental’s condition between you and your tenant — at move-in, at move-out and on routine visits. A home inspection is a separate professional service, usually ordered by a buyer before a purchase, and many states license the inspectors who perform it. If a sale or refinance needs one, hire a licensed home inspector.

How do tenants review and sign the move-in report?

When the inspector finishes, the app emails the tenant a link. They sign in with the email on their unit, see only their own reports and can comment on any item they read differently, such as a scuff the inspector missed. When they’re done, they sign off with their typed full name before the review window you set closes, and the time is saved with the inspection.

How does the move-out comparison help with security deposit deductions?

The comparison screen shows each item’s move-in condition and photos next to what the inspector found at move-out. You add a charge with a reason only where there’s damage beyond normal wear and tear, and the deposit statement lists those charges, the deposit held and the balance. In California a tenant may also ask for an initial inspection in the last two weeks of the tenancy, after 48 hours’ written notice; that pre-move-out visit produces the list of proposed deductions they can fix first. Check your state’s rules.

Can inspectors use the app on a phone during a walkthrough?

Yes. Netiva builds web apps that open in the phone’s browser, so there’s nothing to install. The walkthrough screen moves one room at a time, and photos attach straight to the item being checked. The app needs a data connection to save, so in a basement or rural property with weak signal, note what you see and add it once you’re back in range.

Can the app give tenants notice before a routine inspection?

Yes. Netiva apps can send scheduled email, so yours can email each tenant a set number of days or hours before a visit with the date, time window and inspector’s name. It can also remind you when a unit’s next routine inspection is due. Text messages aren’t supported, and your lease and local law decide how much notice you owe.

Do I own the code behind my property inspection app?

Yes. Netiva writes clean, framework-standard code that you can read, edit and export whenever you want, with no proprietary runtime. Every change the agent makes is checkpointed, so if a new checklist layout confuses your inspectors, you can compare versions and roll back. You can start on the free plan; custom domains are available from the Starter plan.

Keep exploring
All ideas
Compare

How Netiva compares

All comparisons

Drafted with AI assistance from Netiva’s product pages and reviewed by the Netiva team. Example data models, screens and prompts are illustrative starting points, not customer projects.

Build your property inspection app today

Describe it in a sentence and watch Netiva’s agent build it. Free to start — no credit card required.

Start building free Browse more ideas