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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, Nesbitt Realty wants to work with reliable renters. Here are some of the traits we seek out.

  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 renter is honest. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is neat. A tenant does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not destroy the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and nice to get along with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A renter complains at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause issues for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't ask to upgrade 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 renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A tenant does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A tenant is looking for a lease that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the rental.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who live up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that unreasonable renters 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 people 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 history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us at the outset, they will probably be difficult as tenants. If a is caught fabricating facts, we will expect them to be unreliable as a tenant.  If a has difficulty finding certified fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have problems while they are in the rental.

But even if every appearance initially is promising we still check the background of each person 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 owner based upon our experience as property 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.

Do you want understand more about the community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for anyone who hopes to learn more about Northern Virginia and surrounding areas.  The Guide to Real Estate provides facts about what has sold and what is for sale, and a few interesting facts that you may not be aware of.  And, our Guide spotlights many of the fundamentals of living in Northern Virginia.  As a matter of course, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but owners and renters might also find this data to be somewhat 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 can help!

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