What is a contingency reserve account?

Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?

Operating funds are monies that our real estate brokerage uses to fund 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 Key And Nash, 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 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 property owner. 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.

Landlords 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.

 

Key And Nash Property Management Resources

Basics

Elementary info regarding property management in Key And Nash.

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Getting Started

Learn more about getting started with rental property management

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Find A Tenant

Market your property to rent to find a dependable renter in Key And Nash fast.

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Accounting

How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for real estate investors?

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Cost

A list of fees associated with rental management in Key And Nash

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Vetting

How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of tenants for our clients.

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Reserves

What is a contingency reserve account?

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Territory

Where does Nesbitt Realty manage rental investments?

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Clients

Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?

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Contact

Call (703)765-0300 to speak to a rental specialist now.

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Do you want understand more about the local real estate market?

Our Guide to Real Estate is a free resource for anyone who wants to learn more about Key And Nash and nearby areas.  The Guide to Real Estate includes data regarding what has sold and what is on the market, as well as a few surprising facts that you may not be aware of.  Furthermore, our Guide spotlights many of the aspects of living in Key And Nash.  Certainly, all of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but rental investors and tenants will probably also find this data to be very sobering.