Manifest Photos for Lodging Properties

By Joseph Romain
Published: 12/16/12 Topics: Comments: 0

When putting a property into the rental program, it is necessary of course to shoot advertising photos of a home. But there are many other photos that may prove useful later when attempting to help guests, describe the problem or deal with questions or problems. These are call Manifest Photos. Here are examples:

In general photos should be taken of every closet, nook and cranny, such as:

- The inside of the refrigerator and freezer

- Inside of cabinets, with doors open. Kitchen, bathroom, store rooms.

- Inside of garage and any outside storage closets or buildings.

- Inside of fireplaces and wood stoves.

- Underside of sinks to display pipes.

- Backside of toilets, showers

- Lighting fixtures up close. (labeled by room)

- Furnaces & Air Conditioning units.

- Thermostats & Controls

- Stereos, TV's, DVD's & Cable/satellite controls close up.

- Underside of decks and patios.

- Roofs as best can be seen or photographed.

- Behind TV's, couches, etc.

- Both sides of Doors. Locks (Close ups)

- All furniture, front and back.

- Mattresses without coverings.

- All areas of the yard & Driveway.

- The view from the property out in all directions

- Photos of neighbor buildings from the property.

- Roads as they approach the property.

Of course this takes some extra work maybe just an hour or so. But the photos are indispensable when dealing with guests or owners on the phone and should be retained for insurance purposes. With the advent of digital cameras and cheap hard drives, there is no real printing cost so taking and keeping Manifest photos is just a good idea.

Author: Joseph Romain, Signatours
Blog #: 0324 – 12/16/12