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

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

What we look for in Woodbridge tenants

In Woodbridge, our team prefers to deal with reliable renters. 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 neat. A renter does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
  4. A renter does not break the property.
  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 renter doesn't annoy neighbors.
  7. A renter reports problems at appropriate times. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost property owners money and cause head-aches 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 renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
  9. A renter does not smoke in the home.
  10. A renter 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 live up to this standard? Experience has taught us that bad renters 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 people in Woodbridge 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 difficult with our staff from the outset, they will probably be troublesome as tenants. If a lies, we can expect them to be untrustworthy as a tenant.  If a has difficulty scrounging up certified fundsfor 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 check the background of each potential tenant with a full background check. Every applicant and occupant must provide a government-issue photo identification. From there, as property managers we start our vetting process.

How we protect the landlord’s interests in Woodbridge: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

Woodbridge Property Management Resources

Our recommendation

After the background check is complete we make a recommendation to the owner based upon our experience as rental managers in Woodbridge 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 know more about this local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for everyone who wants to find out more about Woodbridge and neighboring communities.  The Guide to Real Estate provides data about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as a couple of shocking facts that you might not know.  In addition, our Guide has quite a few of the fundamentals of residing in Woodbridge.  Of course, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants might also find these resources 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

Will Nesbitt Julie Nesbitt
Julie and Will Nesbitt

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