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

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

What we look for in Northern Virginia tenants

In Northern Virginia, Nesbitt Realty wants to work with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  1. A renter pays the rent when due every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A renter is trustworthy. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A tenant does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not overwork the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter complains at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners 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 demand 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 real estate investor wants to rent the property.

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 troublesome renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out difficult tenants.

 

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 assess applicants based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our staff from the beginning, they will probably be trying as tenants. If a lies, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a renter.  If a has troubles finding fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same potential renter will have problems while they are in the rental.

But even when every action initially is good we still check the background of each applicant with a full background check. Every potential renter 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 finished 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 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 this community?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who needs to investigate real estate facts about Northern Virginia and surrounding areas.  The Guide to Real Estate includes information regarding what has sold and what is on the market, and a few compelling facts that you may not know.  Furthermore, our Guide highlights many of the aspects of life in Northern Virginia.  Of course, most of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but owners and renters might also find these tools to be quite informative.

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

Realtor 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