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

  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 reasonably clean. A tenant does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not overwork the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and easy to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A tenant reports problems when appropriate. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't demand to upgrade 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 property.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the rental.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find tenants who live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that difficult renters 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 potential renters in Northern Virginia based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however assess people based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us at the beginning, they will probably be troublesome as renters. If a makes false statements, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a tenant.  If a has difficulty producing money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have troubles while they are in the rental.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still check the background of each potential tenant with a full background check. Every applicant 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 real estate investor based upon our experience as property managers in Northern Virginia and the information which we have verified. Ultimately the real estate investor 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 everyone who wants to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and nearby communities.  The Guide to Real Estate includes information about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as many interesting facts that you may not be aware of.  Not to mention, our Guide spotlights many of the aspects of life in Northern Virginia.  Naturally, most of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but rental investors and renters will probably 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
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