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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 team likes to work with reasonable renters. Here are some 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 renter is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is neat. A renter does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not misuse the home.
  5. A tenant is courteous and nice to get along with. A tenant 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 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 upgrade 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 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 property.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, 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 unreasonable 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 judge potential renters based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the start, they will probably be troublesome as renters. If a lies, we can expect them to be untrustworthy as a tenant.  If a has difficulty scrounging up fundsfor background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have difficulty while they are in the rental.

But even when every action initially is promising we still check the background of every applicant with a complete background check. Every applicant 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 Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the property owner based upon our experience as property managers in Northern Virginia and the information which 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.

Should you know more about this community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a helpful tool for anyone who hopes to review important real estate information about Northern Virginia and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles information about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as some surprising facts that you may not be aware of.  Furthermore, our Guide spotlights some aspects of living in Northern Virginia.  Of course, most of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but owners and tenants should also find this data to be quite enlightening.

Our Broker Will Nesbitt

Will and Julie
Partners in life. Partners in business.

"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