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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 New Alexandria tenants

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

  1. A tenant 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 renter is trustworthy. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A tenant does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not damage systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and easy to work with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A renter complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't ask to replace 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 renter does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A renter 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 tenants who live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that tardy tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out unreasonable tenants.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential tenants in New 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 from the beginning, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be dishonest as a renter.  If a has troubles finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same applicant will have difficulty while they are in the rental.

But even if every appearance initially is promising we still check the background of each person 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 New 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

New Alexandria Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is finished we make a recommendation to the real estate investor based upon our experience as property managers in New Alexandria and the information that 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.

Should you understand more about our area?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free tool for everyone who hopes to find out more about New Alexandria and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate has facts regarding what has sold and what is for sale, as well as some interesting facts that you may not know.  Not to mention, our Guide features some fundamentals of life in New Alexandria.  Definitely, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but rental investors and renters will likely also find this information 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