Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

What we seek in Crystal City tenants

In Crystal City, Nesbitt Realty prefers to work with reasonable renters. 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 bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and nice to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't ask 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 tenant does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the owner wants to rent the rental.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who live up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that unreasonable renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out troublesome renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge applicants in Crystal City 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 difficult with our managers from the outset, they will probably be difficult 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 renter will have difficulty during the lease.

But even if every action initially is good we still vet every applicant with a full 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 Crystal City: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

Crystal City Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the real estate investor based upon our experience as rental managers in Crystal City 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 our community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for everyone who hopes to investigate real estate facts about Crystal City and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles data regarding what has sold and what is on the market, as well as some interesting facts that you may not know.  Also, our Guide features quite a few of the assets of residing in Crystal City.  Naturally, most of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but landlords and tenants will probably also find these tools to be somewhat 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

Realtor 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