Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

What we seek in New Alexandria renters

In New Alexandria, our management staff likes to deal with good renters. Here are a few of the traits we look for.

  1. A tenant 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 tenant has integrity. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
  3. A renter is fussy about cleanliness. A tenant does not attract pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the home.
  5. A renter is courteous and easy to work with. A tenant understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't bother neighbors.
  7. A tenant reports problems when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause problems 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 renter doesn't expect more than the lease provides. A tenant 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 rental term that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the rental.

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 difficult tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out unreasonable renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge applicants in New Alexandria based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge potential renters based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with our managers at the start, they will probably be trying as tenants. If a makes false statements, we will expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has a problem finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same applicant will have problems while they are in the rental.

But even when every action initially is good we still check the background of each potential tenant with a complete 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 New 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

New 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 New Alexandria 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.

Should you know more about the community?

Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a free tool for anyone who wants to find out more about New Alexandria and surrounding communities.  The Guide to Real Estate compiles facts regarding what has sold and what is on the market, as well as some surprising facts that you might not know.  Not to mention, our Guide has quite a few of the fundamentals of residing in New Alexandria.  As a matter of course, most of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but property owners and renters will also find this information to be quite 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

Julie Nesbitt
Julie can help!

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