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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 Occoquan tenants

In Occoquan, Nesbitt Realty prefers to deal with good tenants. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

  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 renter is honest. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property.
  5. A renter is courteous and nice to get along with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A renter complains when appropriate. 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 tenant doesn't demand to upgrade 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 lease that is as long as the owner wants to rent the home.

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

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential renters in Occoquan based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge people based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our managers at the outset, they will probably be trying as renters. If a lies, we will expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has troubles finding fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same applicant will have troubles while they are in the rental.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still check the background of each potential renter with a full background check. Every person 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 Occoquan: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

Occoquan Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the property owner based upon our experience as property managers in Occoquan and the information which 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 understand more about the community?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a handy resource for anyone who hopes to learn more about Occoquan and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate includes facts about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as many surprising facts that you may not be aware of.  In addition, our Guide features many of the aspects of life in Occoquan.  Of course, all of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but rental investors and tenants will also find these tools to be somewhat eye-opening.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Will and Julie
Partners in life. Partners in business.

"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

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