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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 Alexandria tenants

In Alexandria, Nesbitt Realty prefers to work with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

  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 tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A tenant does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not break the home.
  5. A tenant is courteous and easy to work with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter 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 property.
  10. A renter is looking for a lease that is as long as the property owner wants to rent the rental.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who measure up to this standard? Experience has taught us that tardy 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 Alexandria based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge people based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our staff at the outset, they will probably be troublesome as renters. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be unreliable as a tenant.  If a has troubles finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same potential tenant will have difficulty during the lease.

But even when every appearance initially is promising we still check the background of every applicant with a full background check. Every person and occupant must provide a government-issue photo identification. From there, as property managers we start our vetting process.

How we protect the landlord’s interests in Alexandria: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

Alexandria Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the real estate investor based upon our experience as rental managers in Alexandria 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 this area?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for anyone who wants to review important real estate information about Alexandria and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles facts about what has sold and what is currently listed, and a couple of compelling facts that you might not be aware of.  Furthermore, our Guide has quite a few of the elements of residing in Alexandria.  Of course, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants should also find these resources to be very sobering.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

WIll Nesbitt, Sean Nesbitt, and Kaelyn Nesbitt
WIll Nesbitt, Sean Nesbitt, and Kaelyn 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