Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?
Operating funds are funds that our real estate brokerage uses to fund our business. Operating funds are our money. But, 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 landlord clients.
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 landlord. 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.
Real estate investors 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 Property Management Resources
Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a great tenant in Northern Virginia fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for real estate investors?
Cost
An overview of fees associated with property management services in Northern Virginia
Do you want know more about the area?
Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for anyone who needs to find out more about Northern Virginia and neighboring areas. The Guide to Real Estate has information about what has sold and what is for sale, as well as many interesting facts that you may not be aware of. In addition, our Guide spotlights quite a few of the assets of residing in Northern Virginia. Yes, all of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but landlords and tenants will probably also find these resources to be very useful.
Landlord Reference
a handy reference for rental investors in Northern Virginia
- Before you rent out your property in Northern Virginia
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During tenancy
- End of tenancy and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the rental investor get paid?
- How your rental manager handles the association and your community
- How your rental manager handles utilities
- How Nesbitt finds tenants
- Insurance matters for rental investors using our rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Northern Virginia rental investor responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental property in Northern Virginia
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental investment
- When property owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting tenants in Northern Virginia