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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 Falls Church renters

In Falls Church, Nesbitt Realty likes to deal with dependable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  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 is honest. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A tenant is fastidious. A renter does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not overwork systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and pleasant to get along with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems when appropriate. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost real estate investors money and cause issues for property managers.
  8. A renter doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't demand 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 owner wants to rent the property.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find tenants who live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that tardy renters 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 potential tenants in Falls Church based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however assess potential tenants based upon their history and their actions. If a applicant is difficult with us at the outset, they will probably be rude as renters. If a is caught fabricating facts, we can expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has difficulty scrounging up money for background fees and the first month of rent, we will expect that same person will have difficulty during the lease.

But even if every appearance initially is good we still vet every potential renter with a complete 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 Falls Church: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

Falls Church Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is finished we make a recommendation to the landlord based upon our experience as rental managers in Falls Church 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 our local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for anyone who hopes to investigate real estate facts about Falls Church and surrounding areas.  The Guide to Real Estate includes data regarding what has sold and what is currently listed, as well as many shocking facts that you might not know.  Also, our Guide features quite a few of the aspects of residing in Falls Church.  Of course, most of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants might also find these tools to be somewhat useful.

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
Julie and Will Nesbitt pause from property management to take a quick picture.

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