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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 tenants

In Northern Virginia, Nesbitt Realty prefers to work with good tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  1. A renter pays the rent on time every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is honest. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A tenant does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property.
  5. A renter is courteous and nice to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A tenant reports problems at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors 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 demand to upgrade functioning systems. A tenant 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 property owner wants to rent the home.

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

 

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 assess potential tenants based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our managers from the outset, they will probably be trying as renters. If a lies, we will expect them to be dishonest as a renter.  If a has a problem producing fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same applicant will have troubles during the lease.

But even if every statement initially is good we still check the background of every potential tenant with a complete background check. Every applicant and occupant must provide a government-issue photo identification. From there, as property managers 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 reviewed we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Northern Virginia and the information that we have verified. Ultimately the property owner decides if the risk is worth taking, but they make that decision based upon facts and our expert advice.

Should you understand more about this local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful tool for anyone who hopes to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate includes facts regarding what has sold and what is for sale, and a few compelling facts that you might not know.  In addition, our Guide has quite a few of the fundamentals of living in Northern Virginia.  As a matter of course, all of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but property owners and renters may also find this data to be very edifying.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Will Nesbitt Julie Nesbitt Aubrey Nesbitt
Will Nesbitt Julie Nesbitt Aubrey 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

real estate agent 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