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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 Harrisonburg tenants

In Harrisonburg, Nesbitt Realty likes to work with reasonable tenants. Here are some of the traits we expect.

  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 renter is trustworthy. A renter does not sneak in a co-renter or pet.
  3. A renter is reasonably clean. A tenant does not bring pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property or its systems.
  5. A renter is courteous and nice to work with. A renter understands the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
  6. A tenant doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A tenant complains when appropriate. tenants that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause problems for property managers.
  8. A tenant doesn't gripe 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 renter 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 property owner wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who live up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that difficult renters can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a nose for sniffing out difficult tenants.

 

Our Five Step Process

Fair Housing Laws and our conscience dictates that we do not judge people in Harrisonburg based upon appearance.  Experience has taught us that appearances can be very decieving. We do however judge applicants based upon their track record and their actions. If a applicant is rude to our staff at the start, they will probably be trying as renters. If a lies, we will expect them to be dishonest as a tenant.  If a has difficulty finding money for background fees and the first month of rent, we can expect that same potential renter will have problems while they are in the rental.

But even if every action initially is promising we still vet each applicant 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 Harrisonburg: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

Harrisonburg Rental Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is reviewed we make a recommendation to the property owner based upon our experience as property managers in Harrisonburg 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 want understand more about our community?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a handy resource for everyone who wants to learn more about Harrisonburg and neighboring areas.  The Guide to Real Estate has data regarding what has sold and what is currently listed, and many surprising facts that you might not know.  Not to mention, our Guide features quite a few of the aspects of life in Harrisonburg.  As might be expected, most of this is interesting for purchasers and sellers, but real estate investors and renters will likely 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

Realtor 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