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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 Stephenson tenants

In Stephenson, our team prefers to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  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 renter is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is fastidious. A tenant does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not destroy the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to work with. A tenant 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 real estate investors money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter 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 tenant does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the home.

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

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge people in Stephenson based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge potential renters based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us at the outset, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a makes false statements, we will expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has a problem scrounging up fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same applicant will have difficulty during the lease.

But even if every action initially is good we still vet each potential tenant with a complete background check. Every potential tenant 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 Stephenson: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

Stephenson Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the property owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Stephenson 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.

Do you want understand more about our local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who needs to find out more about Stephenson and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate provides information about what has sold and what is currently listed, and a couple of interesting facts that you might not know.  And, our Guide spotlights some aspects of living in Stephenson.  As a matter of course, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants may also find the facts to be very useful.

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