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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 wants to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  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 renter is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is fastidious. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not destroy the home.
  5. A tenant is courteous and easy to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't complain 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 tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A renter does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor 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 ideal? Experience has taught us that difficult tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out bad renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential tenants in Northern Virginia based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge applicants based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the beginning, they will probably be trying as tenants. If a makes false statements, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a renter.  If a has troubles producing 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 when every action initially is good we still check the background of each applicant with a complete background check. Every applicant 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 reviewed we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as property managers in Northern Virginia and the information which 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 understand more about our local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who wants to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and nearby areas.  The Guide to Real Estate includes facts regarding what has sold and what is on the market, and a few interesting facts that you may not know.  Not to mention, our Guide features some assets of life in Northern Virginia.  Of course, all of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but landlords and tenants may also find this information to be quite enlightening.

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