From phone walk-through video to NSW ingoing condition report

Yes, you can produce a NSW ingoing condition report from a phone video, provided the video is filmed for the purpose and a person checks the draft against the property. Film each room in a fixed order while describing what you see, send the file to an AI agent, and get back a room-by-room draft with still frames attached. The property manager corrects the draft, and the agency issues the report on the usual timetable.

The time saving is in the typing, not the inspecting. Someone still walks every room. This is one of the six jobs covered in our overview of AI for real estate agencies, and it is a good early candidate because the rules are clear and the output is easy to check.

NSW ingoing condition report timing rules

NSW Fair Trading's page on rental property condition reports sets out the sequence. In summary (general information, not legal advice):

• The landlord or agent fills out the condition report before the tenant moves in.
• They give the tenant two paper copies or one electronic copy, either before or at the time the tenancy agreement is given to the tenant to sign.
• The tenant completes their part, can take time-stamped photos, and returns one completed copy within seven days of moving in.
• A new report is not needed when the same people renew, or a new co-tenant or occupant moves in.
• At the end of the tenancy the report is filled in again, with both parties present or the tenant given a reasonable chance to attend.

The practical consequence: the draft-and-review loop has to finish before the agreement goes out for signing. Build the walk-through into your leasing timeline, ideally once the property is cleaned and vacant, rather than the morning of handover.

How to film a walk-through an agent can use

A casual video shot for the owner's group chat is not enough. The agent can only describe what the camera shows and what you say. These habits make the difference:

1. Film in daylight with every light on. Dark corners become “unable to assess”, which is useless in a dispute.
2. Use a fixed order. Front door, then clockwise through each room; in each room, ceiling, walls, windows and coverings, floor, fixtures, then doors. The same order every time makes the draft predictable to review.
3. Say the room name out loud when you enter. “Bedroom two, rear left.” The agent uses your narration to label sections.
4. Narrate condition, not opinion. “Two small chips on the skirting near the door, about 1 cm.” Avoid “looks fine”.
5. Hold still on existing damage for three seconds, close up, with something for scale such as a pen or key.
6. Test what works. Turn taps, flush, open windows, switch on lights, the oven and the exhaust fans, and say the result.
7. Capture the extras. Smoke alarms, meter readings if you record them, keys and remotes handed over, garden and garage.
8. Keep the original file. Do not trim or compress it. It is evidence if the bond is disputed.

What the agent sends back

Send the video from your phone straight into the chat thread you use with the agent — Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack or Discord through Fulcrum Cortex channels. A good draft has four parts:

• A room-by-room draft that follows the structure of the condition report form NSW Fair Trading publishes, with each item described in plain words.
• Still frames pulled from the video for every noted defect, labelled with room, item and the video timestamp they came from.
• A list of gaps: items the camera did not show clearly, rooms filmed too quickly, anything the narration and the picture disagree on.
• Questions for the property manager, such as “Is the burn mark on the benchtop new since the last tenancy? It is not in the previous outgoing report.”

That last point is worth setting up deliberately. If the agent has the previous tenancy's outgoing report, it can compare and highlight new damage. That comparison is useful at bond time, which is also where accurate trust handling matters; see our guide to trust account reconciliation for how bond and rent receipts should flow.

The property manager's review checklist

The draft is not the report until a person has checked it. Our recommended review takes roughly the length of the walk-through itself:

1. Read the gap list first and fix those items at the property or from the video.
2. Check every defect line against its still frame. Delete anything the picture does not support.
3. Look for missing defects: scroll the video at double speed and watch for things neither you nor the agent mentioned.
4. Confirm “working” items were actually tested on video, not assumed.
5. Check wording is neutral and specific. “Carpet stained” invites argument; “Carpet: light brown stain approx. 15 cm, centre of room” does not.
6. Approve. The agent formats the final copy, records who approved it and when, and attaches the frames.

Every correction you make is a lesson for the next one. Tell the agent the rule — “always note the condition of window locks”, “describe carpet stains with size and position” — and it will apply it next time. Tony Lorenzo at Elite Partners Real Estate in Abbotsford describes this exact workflow: his agent “turns my phone walk-through videos into NSW ingoing condition reports”, and he gives the OK before anything goes out. Individual results vary.

Mistakes that make video-based reports weaker

• Filming furnished or occupied rooms without care. You will capture personal belongings. Film the property, not the people or their possessions, and tell occupants beforehand.
• Letting the draft go unreviewed because it looks polished. AI drafts read confidently even when they are wrong. A tidy sentence about a defect that is not there is worse than a gap.
• Over-describing. Pages of “walls clean, no marks” bury the items that matter. Keep standard items short and put effort into defects.
• Losing the link between frame and video. If a still has no timestamp back to the original file, it is harder to rely on.
• Skipping the tenant's part. The tenant still completes their copy and can add their own photos. Your report is the starting point, not the last word.

Storing the video and the report

Keep the original video, the approved report, the frames and the approval record together on the property's tenancy record, so the outgoing inspection can be compared like for like. In Fulcrum Cortex these sit with the property in Fulcrum CRM alongside the correspondence. Decide in advance how long you keep inspection videos, who can see them, and that they are not shared beyond the people who need them.

The same filming discipline helps with routine inspections and maintenance: a narrated video of a leak is far easier for a tradie, an insurer or a strata manager to act on than three blurry photos. It also feeds the billing side. If the walk-through reveals a lease or fee issue, the rent roll audit is where you check it properly.

When to keep writing condition reports by hand

If you do a handful of new tenancies a year, or your properties are small units you can describe in twenty minutes on a tablet at the property, the old way is fine. Video drafting pays off with volume, larger homes, and agencies where the person inspecting is not the person typing. For the general technique of turning spoken instructions into tasks, see turning voice notes into tasks; for how the agent fits into your wider workflow, start with the Fulcrum Cortex platform.