What we seek in Northern Virginia renters
In Northern Virginia, our team wants to work with dependable renters. Here are some of the traits we seek out.
- A tenant pays the rent when due every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
- A tenant is trustworthy. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
- A tenant is neat. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
- A tenant does not misuse the property or its systems.
- A tenant is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
- A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
- A renter reports problems when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause head-aches for property managers.
- A renter doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't ask 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.
- A renter does not smoke in the home.
- A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the rental.
So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who measure up to this standard? Experience has taught us that bad tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out difficult renters.
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 judge potential tenants based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the outset, they will probably be rude as tenants. If a is caught fabricating facts, we will expect them to be dishonest as a tenant. If a has troubles producing fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have difficulty during the lease.
But even if every statement initially is promising we still check the background of each applicant with a complete 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:
Northern Virginia Rental Management Resources
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Basics
Basic info about what rental managment in Northern Virginia.
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Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with property management
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Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a great tenant 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 prices of rental management 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 rental investments?
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Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Landlord Reference
a handy reference for rental investors in Northern Virginia
- Before you put a renter in your investment in Northern Virginia
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During the lease term
- End of lease term and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the landlord get paid?
- How your property management company handles the association and your community
- How your rental manager handles utilities
- How we find tenants
- Insurance matters for rental investors using our property management
- How Nesbitt Management handles keys
- Northern Virginia property owner responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental property in Northern Virginia
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your property
- When owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Northern Virginia
More Information About Northern Virginia
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 need understand more about this community?
Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for everyone who needs to learn more about Northern Virginia and nearby areas. The Guide to Real Estate has information regarding what has sold and what is on the market, and many shocking facts that you might not know. And, our Guide highlights quite a few of the aspects of living in Northern Virginia. As might be expected, most of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but owners and tenants will probably also find these tools to be quite eye-opening.
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
