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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, our team prefers to work with good tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  1. A tenant pays the rent on time every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A tenant does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not damage the property or its systems.
  5. A tenant is courteous and pleasant 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 complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause issues for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't demand to replace functioning systems. A tenant doesn't expect more than the lease provides. A tenant doesn't complain that an appliance doesn't work when the tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A renter 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 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 nose for sniffing out bad renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential tenants 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 difficult with our managers at the outset, they will probably be difficult as tenants. If a makes false statements, we will expect them to be unreliable as a tenant.  If a has troubles scrounging up fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have problems while they are in the rental.

But even if every statement initially is good we still check the background of every potential tenant with a complete background check. Every person 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 Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the owner 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 know more about our area?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy resource for anyone who hopes to investigate real estate facts about Northern Virginia and nearby communities.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles facts about what has sold and what is for sale, as well as a couple of compelling facts that you might not know.  Also, our Guide highlights many of the aspects of living in Northern Virginia.  Yes, most of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants will likely also find the facts to be quite useful.

Our Broker 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

Will and Julie
Partners in life. Partners in business.

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