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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, our management staff prefers to deal with reliable renters. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

  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 honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A renter does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not overwork systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains 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 gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't demand to replace functioning systems. A tenant 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 renter does not smoke in the property.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that bad tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out tardy 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 assess people based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff from the start, they will probably be difficult as renters. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a renter.  If a has troubles finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have difficulty during the lease.

But even if every appearance initially is promising we still check the background of each potential renter with a full background check. Every applicant and occupant must provide 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 complete we make a recommendation to the property owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Northern Virginia and the information which 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 know more about this community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who wants to investigate real estate facts about Northern Virginia and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate has data regarding what has sold and what is on the market, and some surprising facts that you may not know.  Not to mention, our Guide has many of the elements of life in Northern Virginia.  Yes, most of this is useful for purchasers and sellers, but rental investors and tenants will probably also find the facts to be quite eye-opening.

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