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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 Del Ray renters

In Del Ray, our management staff likes to work with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

  1. A renter pays the rent on time every month. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is honest. A tenant does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is reasonably clean. A renter does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and easy to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't gripe when it's not appropriate. This means that a tenant doesn't ask to upgrade 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 property.
  10. A tenant is looking for a rental term that is as long as the real estate investor 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 unreasonable renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out unreasonable tenants.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge potential renters in Del Ray based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however assess applicants based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the beginning, they will probably be difficult as renters. If a is dishonest, we will expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has troubles producing money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same potential tenant will have difficulty during the lease.

But even if every appearance initially is promising we still check the background of each potential tenant with a full background check. Every applicant and occupant must submit a government-issue photo identification. From there, as property managers we start our vetting process.

How we protect the landlord’s interests in Del Ray: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

Del Ray Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the landlord based upon our experience as rental managers in Del Ray and the information which 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.

Should you understand more about this community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who needs to investigate real estate facts about Del Ray and nearby communities.  The Guide to Real Estate provides information about what has sold and what is on the market, and a few compelling facts that you might not know.  Also, our Guide highlights many of the elements of living in Del Ray.  Of course, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but rental investors and renters should also find this data to be quite eye-opening.

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

Julie Nesbitt
Julie Nesbitt has the experience that counts in Northern VA real estate.

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