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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 Alexandria renters

In Alexandria, our team wants to deal with reliable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

  1. A renter 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 has integrity. A renter does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is neat. A tenant does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not misuse the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and easy to work with. A tenant knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause head-aches for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't demand 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 tenant does not smoke in the rental.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the owner 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 standard? Experience has taught us that troublesome tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out troublesome renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge applicants in Alexandria based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however assess people based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with us at the start, they will probably be rude as renters. If a makes false statements, we can expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has troubles producing money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same person will have troubles while they are in the rental.

But even when every appearance initially is promising we still check the background of each potential tenant with a full background check. Every potential tenant 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 Alexandria: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

Alexandria Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is finished we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Alexandria and the information which we have verified. Ultimately the real estate investor 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 the local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for everyone who wants to investigate real estate facts about Alexandria and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles facts regarding what has sold and what is currently listed, and some interesting facts that you might not know.  Not to mention, our Guide features quite a few of the benefits of life in Alexandria.  Naturally, most of this is interesting for purchasers and sellers, but landlords and renters will also find this data to be very 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 Aubrey Nesbitt
Will Nesbitt Julie Nesbitt Aubrey Nesbitt

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