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. On the other hand, 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 Pinecrest, 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 property owner. If the property management ends, that money is promptly returned to the real estate investor.
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.
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.
Pinecrest Property Management Resources
Basics
Elementary information regarding property management in Pinecrest.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with property management
Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a great renter in Pinecrest fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for landlords?
Cost
A breakdown of prices of rental management in Pinecrest
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty vets tenants for landlords.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage property?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you want understand more about the community?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for everyone who wants to review important real estate information about Pinecrest and neighboring areas. The Guide to Real Estate provides data about what has sold and what is on the market, and a couple of compelling facts that you might not know. And, our Guide spotlights many of the fundamentals of life in Pinecrest. As a matter of course, all of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants should also find these tools to be quite eye-opening.
Landlord Reference
a useful archive for property owners in Pinecrest
- Before you lease out your investment in Pinecrest
- 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 owner get paid?
- How your property management company handles the association and your community
- How your rental manager handles utilities
- How Nesbitt Realty finds tenants
- Insurance matters for owners using our property management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Pinecrest rental investor responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your property in Pinecrest
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your property
- When landlords don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Pinecrest