(703)765-0300

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

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

What we seek in East Falls Church renters

In East Falls Church, our management staff prefers to deal with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we seek out.

  1. A tenant pays the rent when due every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
  2. A tenant is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is neat. A tenant does not bring pests such as rodents and bugs.
  4. A tenant does not destroy the home.
  5. A tenant 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 complains at appropriate times. 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 renter doesn't ask to upgrade 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 tenant doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A renter does not smoke in the home.
  10. A tenant is looking for a lease that is as long as the landlord wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a renter, but how do we find renters who live up to this ideal? 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 bad renters.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge applicants in East Falls Church based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge applicants based upon their reputation and their actions. If a applicant is rude to us from the outset, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a lies, we will expect them to be unreliable as a renter.  If a has a problem scrounging up money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same applicant will have difficulty during the lease.

But even if every appearance initially is promising we still vet each potential renter with a complete background check. Every potential renter 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 East 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

East Falls Church Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the real estate investor based upon our experience as rental managers in East Falls Church and the information which we have verified. Ultimately the owner decides if the risk is worth taking, but they make that decision based upon facts and our expert advice.

Do you want understand more about our community?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for everyone who needs to investigate real estate facts about East Falls Church and nearby communities.  The Guide to Real Estate includes facts about what has sold and what is currently listed, as well as a couple of shocking facts that you might not know.  And, our Guide has quite a few of the benefits of living in East Falls Church.  Of course, most of this is useful for purchasers and sellers, but owners and tenants will also find these tools to be quite enlightening.

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

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