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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 prefers to deal with reliable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  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 tenant is honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is fastidious. A renter does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not misuse systems.
  5. A tenant is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A tenant understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't gripe 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 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 real estate investor wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who live up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that difficult 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 applicants 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 managers from the start, they will probably be rude as renters. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has difficulty producing fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same applicant will have troubles during the lease.

But even when every statement initially is good we still vet each potential renter with a complete background check. Every potential renter 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 Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the real estate investor based upon our experience as property managers in Northern Virginia 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 want understand more about the local real estate market?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a helpful tool for everyone who hopes to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate provides facts about what has sold and what is currently listed, and a few surprising facts that you may not know.  Not to mention, our Guide spotlights quite a few of the elements of living in Northern Virginia.  Yes, all of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but owners and renters will likely also find this data to be somewhat edifying.

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

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