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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 Northern Virginia tenants

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

  1. A tenant 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 honest. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A tenant is fastidious. A tenant does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not misuse the home.
  5. A tenant is courteous and nice to work with. A tenant understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A renter complains at appropriate times. tenants 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 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 tenant does not smoke in the home.
  10. A tenant 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 tenant, but how do we find tenants who measure up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that tardy renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out tardy 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 tenants based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with us at the outset, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a lies, we can expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has difficulty scrounging up money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have problems during the lease.

But even when every action initially is promising we still check the background of each potential renter with a complete 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 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

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the property owner 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 want know more about our area?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a helpful tool for anyone who hopes to learn more about Northern Virginia and surrounding areas.  The Guide to Real Estate provides information about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as some interesting facts that you might not know.  And, our Guide highlights quite a few of the fundamentals of living in Northern Virginia.  Certainly, most of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but property owners and renters might also find this data to be somewhat sobering.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Will Nesbitt
Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Nesbitt Realty.

"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