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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 Prince William County tenants

In Prince William County, Nesbitt Realty prefers to work with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  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 renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is fastidious. A renter does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property.
  5. A tenant 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 annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant 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 renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A tenant does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the property.

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

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential tenants in Prince William County based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge potential tenants based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with us from the beginning, they will probably be trying as tenants. If a makes false statements, we can expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has troubles producing certified fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same applicant will have problems while they are in the rental.

But even when every statement initially is promising we still check the background of every applicant with a full background check. Every applicant 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 Prince William County: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

Prince William County Property 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 Prince William County 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 this area?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for everyone who hopes to investigate real estate facts about Prince William County and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate provides data about what has sold and what is currently listed, and a couple of interesting facts that you may not know.  Furthermore, our Guide spotlights some fundamentals of residing in Prince William County.  Naturally, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but landlords and tenants might also find the facts to be very 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

Will and Julie Nesbitt
Julie and Will Nesbitt pause from property management to take a quick picture.

 I like tenants that pay on time. Late paying tenants cause extra work and unnecessary stress for landlords and property managers. ~ Julie Nesbitt