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Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

What we seek in Northern Virginia renters

In Northern Virginia, Nesbitt Realty prefers to deal with reasonable renters. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  1. A tenant pays the rent on time every month. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is fastidious. A tenant does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not break the property.
  5. A tenant is courteous and nice to work with. A tenant knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A tenant reports problems when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask to replace functioning systems. A renter doesn't expect more than the lease provides. A renter doesn't complain that an appliance doesn't work when the tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A renter does not smoke in the property.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the owner wants to rent the rental.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find tenants who live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that bad renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out difficult renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge people in Northern Virginia based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge applicants based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our managers at the start, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a is dishonest, we can expect them to be untrustworthy as a renter.  If a has troubles producing certified fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same person will have troubles during the lease.

But even when every statement initially is promising we still vet each potential tenant with a complete background check. Every potential renter and occupant must submit a government-issue photo identification. From there, as rental we start our vetting process.

How we protect the landlord’s interests in Northern Virginia:Nesbitt Realty is committed to Fair Housing

  1. We Check The Applicant’s Credit History
  2. We Investigate The Applicant’s Criminal History
  3. We Investigate The Applicant’s Rental History
  4. We Look For Internal Consistency In The Rental Application
  5. We Want To Know If The Applicant Can Afford The Rent

Northern Virginia Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the property owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Northern Virginia and the information that we have verified. Ultimately the real estate investor decides if the risk is worth taking, but they make that decision based upon facts and our expert advice.

Should you know more about our community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free tool for anyone who needs to learn more about Northern Virginia and nearby areas.  The Guide to Real Estate has information regarding what has sold and what is currently listed, and a couple of compelling facts that you might not know.  And, our Guide has quite a few of the elements of life in Northern Virginia.  As might be expected, all of this is interesting for purchasers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants will also find this data to be somewhat useful.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Will Nesbitt
Will Nesbitt

"I am by nature a trusting person, but this business has taught me to verify every statement that a tenant makes. Scammers and bad tenants can sometimes give every appearance of being trustworthy and upright people. We never cut corners on background checks." ~ Will Nesbitt

Julie Nesbitt

Julie Nesbitt
Julie Nesbitt

 I like tenants that pay on time. Late paying tenants cause extra work and unnecessary stress for landlords and property managers. ~ Julie Nesbitt