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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 team likes to work with reasonable tenants. Here are some of the traits we look for.

  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 renter has integrity. A tenant does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is neat. A tenant does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not misuse systems.
  5. A tenant is courteous and pleasant to work with. A tenant knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask to upgrade functioning systems. A renter doesn't expect more than the lease provides. A tenant 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 rental.
  10. A renter is looking for a lease that is as long as the property owner wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who measure up to this standard? Experience has taught us that tardy tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out unreasonable 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 track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the start, they will probably be difficult as renters. If a is caught fabricating facts, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a renter.  If a has a problem scrounging up money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have troubles during the lease.

But even when every statement initially is good we still vet each applicant with a full background check. Every applicant and occupant must provide 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 owner based upon our experience as rental 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.

Should you know more about our community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy resource for everyone who wants to find out more about Northern Virginia and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate provides information about what has sold and what is for sale, and a couple of surprising facts that you might not know.  Furthermore, our Guide features quite a few of the elements of residing in Northern Virginia.  As might be expected, most of this is interesting for purchasers and sellers, but owners and tenants will likely also find this data to be quite enlightening.

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

Realtors in the Shenandoah Valley
Will and Julie on Woodstock Tower

 I like tenants that pay on time. Late paying tenants cause extra work and unnecessary stress for landlords and property managers. ~ Julie Nesbitt