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. Conversely, 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 Colonial Heights, 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 property owners.
Contingency reserve is a special type of escrow.
A contingency reserve account is money that is held in savings to pay for maintenance and other incidentals that occur during property management. Although the money is in our escrow account, the money belongs to the landlord. When the property management ends, that money is promptly returned to the landlord.
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.
Colonial Heights Property Management Resources
Basics
Fundamental info regarding rental managment in Colonial Heights.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with rental property management
Find A Tenant
Market your property to rent to find a great tenant in Colonial Heights fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for landlords?
Cost
A list of prices of property management services in Colonial Heights
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of tenants for our clients.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage rental property?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you want understand more about the local real estate market?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful tool for anyone who wants to review important real estate information about Colonial Heights and surrounding areas. The Guide to Real Estate includes information regarding what has sold and what is on the market, as well as many shocking facts that you might not know. Furthermore, our Guide spotlights quite a few of the benefits of residing in Colonial Heights. As a matter of course, most of this is interesting for purchasers and sellers, but property owners and renters may also find these resources to be very sobering.
Landlord Reference
a free reference for property owners in Colonial Heights
- Before you rent out your rental property in Colonial Heights
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the renter
- During tenancy
- End of lease term and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the rental investor 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 rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Colonial Heights landlord responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your property in Colonial Heights
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your property
- When property owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Colonial Heights