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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 deal with reliable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  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 renter is honest. A renter 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 destroy the property.
  5. A tenant is courteous and nice to get along with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause issues for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask to replace functioning systems. A tenant 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 renter does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A renter is looking for a lease that is as long as the real estate investor wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find tenants who measure up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that difficult tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out tardy tenants.

 

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 assess applicants based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff from the beginning, they will probably be trying as tenants. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be unreliable as a tenant.  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 problems during the lease.

But even when every appearance initially is good we still check the background of each person with a full background check. Every applicant 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 Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is finished 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 landlord 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 our community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for everyone who needs to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles data regarding what has sold and what is for sale, and a couple of surprising facts that you may not be aware of.  Also, our Guide has quite a few of the elements of residing in Northern Virginia.  Of course, all of this is useful for purchasers and sellers, but real estate investors and renters will probably also find these resources to be somewhat edifying.

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

Will Nesbitt Julie Nesbitt
Julie and Will Nesbitt

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