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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, our management staff prefers to work with reasonable tenants. Here are some of the traits we expect.

  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 tenant is honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A renter does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not overwork the property.
  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 annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause issues for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask to replace 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 tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A tenant does not smoke in the home.
  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 renter, but how do we find renters who measure 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 knack for sniffing out bad 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 potential tenants based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the start, they will probably be difficult as renters. If a lies, we will expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has a problem finding fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same person will have problems during the lease.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still check the background of every potential renter with a full background check. Every person and occupant must provide a government-issue photo identification. From there, as rental 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 Rental 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 Occoquan 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 know more about the community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free tool for everyone who hopes to investigate real estate facts about Occoquan and nearby communities.  The Guide to Real Estate provides data about what has sold and what is for sale, as well as a couple of compelling facts that you may not be aware of.  And, our Guide spotlights some benefits of living in Occoquan.  Certainly, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but owners and tenants should also find the facts 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

Realtors in the Shenandoah Valley
Will and Julie on Woodstock Tower

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