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

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

What we look for in Northern Virginia tenants

In Northern Virginia, our management staff wants to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

  1. A tenant pays the rent when due every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is trustworthy. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A renter does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not break the property.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A tenant knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't gripe 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 tenant doesn't complain that an appliance doesn't work when the renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A tenant does not smoke in the home.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find tenants who measure up to this standard? Experience has taught us that unreasonable tenants 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 applicants in Northern Virginia based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge people based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us at the outset, they will probably be rude as renters. If a is caught fabricating facts, we can expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has difficulty finding certified fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have difficulty while they are in the rental.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still check the background of each potential renter with a full 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 Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

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

Do you want understand more about the area?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for everyone who needs to learn more about Northern Virginia and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate includes data regarding what has sold and what is for sale, as well as a couple of interesting facts that you might not be aware of.  Furthermore, our Guide features many of the aspects of living in Northern Virginia.  Of course, most of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but owners and tenants will also find these tools to be very enlightening.

Our Broker 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