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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 management staff likes to deal with dependable renters. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  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-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is fussy about cleanliness. A renter does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not destroy the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and easy to work with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems at appropriate times. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors 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 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 home.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who live up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that unreasonable renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out bad 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 judge potential tenants based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our staff at the outset, they will probably be troublesome as renters. If a lies, we will expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has troubles producing money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same applicant will have difficulty while they are in the rental.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still check the background of every potential renter with a full background check. Every person and occupant must provide 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 reviewed we make a recommendation to the property 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 the community?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a handy resource for anyone who needs to find out more about Northern Virginia and surrounding areas.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles information regarding what has sold and what is on the market, as well as many surprising facts that you might not know.  Furthermore, our Guide features quite a few of the benefits of life in Northern Virginia.  Certainly, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but property owners and tenants may also find these resources to be somewhat useful.

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

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