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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, our management staff likes to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are some of the traits we seek out.

  1. A tenant pays the rent when due every month. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is neat. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not overwork the home.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to work with. A tenant understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A tenant reports problems when appropriate. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask to upgrade 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 home.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the property.

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 troublesome renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out unreasonable tenants.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential renters in Northern Virginia based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however assess potential renters based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our staff from the start, they will probably be rude as renters. If a lies, we will expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has difficulty finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same potential renter will have troubles during the lease.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still check the background of every person 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 complete we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Northern Virginia and the information which 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 need understand more about this local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for anyone who wants to investigate real estate facts about Northern Virginia and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate provides information about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as some surprising facts that you may not be aware of.  Also, our Guide highlights many of the benefits of residing in Northern Virginia.  Of course, most of this is interesting for purchasers and sellers, but landlords and renters will also find this data 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