Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?
Operating funds are monies that our real estate brokerage uses to pay for our business. Operating funds are our money. Nevertheless, escrow funds are different. Escrow funds are monies that Nesbitt Realty is holding on behalf of tenants, landlords, buyers and sellers. Escrow funds are not our money, but they are monies that we are trusted to safeguard. At any given time, Nesbitt Realty has hundreds of thousands of dollars in escrow accounts.
In Northern Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia requires that all real estate licensees manage escrow funds in a particular manner. Most importantly the Commonwealth requires that escrow funds are properly accounted for at all times. In additional all escrow funds must be kept separate from operating funds. The biggest portion of our escrow funds are tenant security deposits, but also hold deposits for buyers (and sometimes sellers) as we'll as contingency reserve funds for real estate investors.
Contingency reserve is a special type of escrow.
A contingency reserve account is money that is held in savings to pay for repairs and other incidentals that occur during property management. Although the money is in our escrow account, the money belongs to the property owner. If the property management ends, that money is promptly returned to the real estate investor.
When a repair bill arises we use money in the contingency reserve account to pay that bill. When bills are paid in this manner the account is depleted. When the account is missing funds, at the end of the month when new rents are paid, Nesbitt Realty replenishes the count with money withheld from this rent. As property managers, Nesbitt Realty prepares a statement each month to show if/when money is depleted and how/when money is replenished into the contingency reserve account.
Landlords do not pay us money to set up the contingency reserve account. Instead, Nesbitt Realty withholds money from the first month of rent in order to set up the account.
Northern Virginia Property Management Resources
Basics
Elementary info regarding property management in Northern Virginia.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with property management
Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a dependable renter in Northern Virginia fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for real estate investors?
Cost
A breakdown of fees associated with rental management services in Northern Virginia
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of tenants for property owners.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage property?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you need understand more about this area?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who wants to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and nearby communities. The Guide to Real Estate includes information regarding what has sold and what is currently listed, as well as many interesting facts that you might not know. Also, our Guide highlights quite a few of the elements of living in Northern Virginia. Of course, most of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and renters will probably also find these tools to be quite sobering.
Landlord Reference
a useful reference for rental investors in Northern Virginia
- Before you lease out your rental in Northern Virginia
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the renter
- During the lease term
- End of tenancy and what happens when a renter breaks the lease
- How does the rental investor get paid?
- How your property management company handles the association and your community
- How your management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt Management finds tenants
- Insurance matters for landlords using our property management
- How Nesbitt Management handles keys
- Northern Virginia landlord responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental investment in Northern Virginia
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental investment
- When landlords don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Northern Virginia