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

What we seek in Northern Virginia tenants

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

  1. A renter 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 trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is fastidious. A tenant does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not overwork the home.
  5. A renter is courteous and nice to work with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't gripe 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 tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A tenant does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the property owner wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find tenants who live up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that bad renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out unreasonable 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 assess people based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us at the start, they will probably be difficult as renters. If a is dishonest, we can expect them to be dishonest as a renter.  If a has troubles producing money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same applicant will have difficulty during the lease.

But even when every appearance initially is promising we still vet every person 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 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

Basic info regarding management services in Northern Virginia.

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Getting Started

Learn more about getting started with property management

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Find A Tenant

Market your property to rent to find a great renter in Northern Virginia fast.

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Accounting

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

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Cost

An overview of fees associated with property management services in Northern Virginia

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Vetting

How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of renters for property owners.

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Reserves

What is a contingency reserve account?

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Territory

Where does Nesbitt Realty manage rentals?

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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 management specialist now.

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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 landlord 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?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for anyone who hopes to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and surrounding communities.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles information about what has sold and what is on the market, and many interesting facts that you may not be aware of.  In addition, our Guide highlights some assets of living in Northern Virginia.  Definitely, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but owners and tenants might also find the facts to be somewhat informative.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Will and Julie under the moon.
Nothing is better than family and friends.

"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