Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

What we look for in Northern Virginia tenants

In Northern Virginia, our management staff prefers to work with reliable renters. Here are some of the traits we expect.

  1. A tenant pays the rent on time every month. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is fastidious. A renter does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property or its systems.
  5. A tenant is courteous and easy to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter complains when appropriate. 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 renter doesn't ask to replace 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 home.
  10. A renter is looking for a rental term 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 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 difficult renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge people in Northern Virginia 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 our staff at the start, they will probably be difficult as renters. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a tenant.  If a has a problem finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same person will have troubles while they are in the rental.

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

How we protect the landlord’s interests in Northern Virginia: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

Northern Virginia Rental Management Resources

Basics

Elementary information about what management services in Northern Virginia.

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Getting Started

Learn more about getting started with rental property management

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Find A Tenant

List your property to rent to find a dependable tenant in Northern Virginia fast.

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Accounting

How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for landlords?

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Cost

An overview of fees associated with rental management in Northern Virginia

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Vetting

How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of tenants for landlords.

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Reserves

What is a contingency reserve account?

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Territory

Where does Nesbitt Realty manage rental investments?

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Clients

Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?

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Contact

Call (703)765-0300 to speak to a property manager now.

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Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the landlord based upon our experience as rental managers in Northern Virginia and the information that 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 the area?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free tool for anyone who hopes to find out more about Northern Virginia and nearby communities.  The Guide to Real Estate has information regarding what has sold and what is currently listed, as well as a couple of interesting facts that you might not know.  Furthermore, our Guide has quite a few of the elements of living in Northern Virginia.  Definitely, most of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but rental investors and renters will likely also find this information to be quite enlightening.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Sometimes negotiations get heated

"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 and Will
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