Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?
Operating funds are funds that our real estate brokerage uses to pay for our business. Operating funds are our money. However, escrow funds are different. Escrow funds are monies that Nesbitt Realty is holding on behalf of tenants, landlords, buyers and sellers. Escrow funds are not our money, but they are monies that we are trusted to safeguard. At any given time, Nesbitt Realty has hundreds of thousands of dollars in escrow accounts.
In Northern Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia requires that all real estate licensees manage escrow funds in a particular manner. Most importantly the Commonwealth requires that escrow funds are properly accounted for at all times. In additional all escrow funds must be kept separate from operating funds. The biggest portion of our escrow funds are tenant security deposits, but also hold deposits for buyers (and sometimes sellers) as we'll as contingency reserve funds for real estate investors.
Contingency reserve is a special type of escrow.
A contingency reserve account is money that is held in escrow to pay for repairs and other incidentals that occur during property management. Although the money is in our escrow account, the money belongs to the real estate investor. If the property management ends, that money is promptly returned to the property owner.
When a repair bill arises we use money in the contingency reserve account to pay that bill. When bills are paid in this manner the account is depleted. When the account is missing funds, at the end of the month when new rents are paid, Nesbitt Realty replenishes the count with money withheld from this rent. As property managers, Nesbitt Realty prepares a statement each month to show if/when money is depleted and how/when money is replenished into the contingency reserve account.
Property owners do not pay us money to set up the contingency reserve account. Instead, Nesbitt Realty withholds money from the first month of rent in order to set up the account.
Northern Virginia Rental Management Resources
Do you want understand more about our local real estate market?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who hopes to find out more about Northern Virginia and neighboring areas. The Guide to Real Estate includes facts about what has sold and what is currently listed, as well as many surprising facts that you might not know. Furthermore, our Guide features many of the elements of life in Northern Virginia. Of course, most of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but property owners and tenants will also find this information to be somewhat enlightening.
Landlord Reference
a useful archive for property owners in Northern Virginia
- Before you rent out your rental in Northern Virginia
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During the lease term
- End of tenancy and what happens when a renter breaks the lease
- How does the landlord get paid?
- How your rental manager handles the association and your community
- How your property management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt finds renters
- Insurance matters for property owners using our property management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Northern Virginia landlord responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your property in Northern Virginia
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental property
- When property owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Northern Virginia