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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 renters

In Northern Virginia, our management staff likes to deal with reliable renters. Here are some of the traits we expect.

  1. A renter 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 renter is honest. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is neat. A tenant does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not misuse the property or its systems.
  5. A tenant 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 disturb 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 tenant doesn't ask to replace 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 renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A renter does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A tenant is looking for a lease that is as long as the owner wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that unreasonable tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out troublesome tenants.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge people in Northern Virginia based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however assess potential renters based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us at the beginning, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a is caught fabricating facts, we will expect them to be untrustworthy as a tenant.  If a has difficulty scrounging up certified fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same applicant will have troubles during the lease.

But even when every action initially is good we still check the background of each person with a full background check. Every potential tenant and occupant must provide 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 reviewed we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as property managers in Northern Virginia and the information that we have verified. Ultimately the property owner decides if the risk is worth taking, but they make that decision based upon facts and our expert advice.

Do you want understand more about our local real estate market?

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 communities.  The Guide to Real Estate provides data regarding what has sold and what is for sale, as well as many interesting facts that you may not know.  Furthermore, our Guide has quite a few of the elements of life in Northern Virginia.  As a matter of course, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but owners and tenants will probably also find the facts to be somewhat enlightening.

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 and Julie Nesbitt
Will and 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