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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 McLean renters

In McLean, our team wants to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  1. A renter pays the rent when due every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant has integrity. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A renter does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not overwork the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to get along 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 landlords money and cause issues for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't demand 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 renter does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A tenant is looking for a lease that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the rental.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find tenants who measure up to this ideal? 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 difficult tenants.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge people in McLean based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge potential renters based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us from the beginning, they will probably be troublesome as renters. If a makes false statements, we can expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has difficulty finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same potential renter will have problems during the lease.

But even when every statement initially is good we still vet each potential tenant with a full background check. Every applicant and occupant must submit a government-issue photo identification. From there, as property managers we start our vetting process.

How we protect the landlord’s interests in McLean: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

McLean Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is finished we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as rental managers in McLean and the information that 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 know more about the community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for everyone who wants to investigate real estate facts about McLean and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate has information regarding what has sold and what is on the market, and a few shocking facts that you may not be aware of.  In addition, our Guide highlights many of the assets of residing in McLean.  Certainly, all of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants will likely also find this information to be quite sobering.

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