Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?
Operating funds are funds that our property management and real estate business uses to pay for 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 Odyssey, 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 purchasers (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 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 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.
Odyssey Rental Management Resources
Basics
Elementary information regarding management services in Odyssey.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with rental property management
Find A Tenant
Market your property to rent to find a reliable renter in Odyssey fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for landlords?
Cost
An overview of fees associated with rental management services in Odyssey
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty vets renters for landlords.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage rental investments?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you need know more about our area?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for anyone who needs to investigate real estate facts about Odyssey and surrounding communities. The Guide to Real Estate provides information regarding what has sold and what is for sale, and many compelling facts that you may not know. Also, our Guide features many of the elements of life in Odyssey. Certainly, most of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but rental investors and renters will likely also find this information to be quite sobering.
Landlord Reference
a free archive for rental investors in Odyssey
- Before you put a renter in your rental in Odyssey
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During the lease term
- End of lease term and what happens when a renter breaks the lease
- How does the property owner get paid?
- How your management company handles the association and your community
- How your management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management finds tenants
- Insurance matters for landlords using our rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Odyssey rental investor responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental property in Odyssey
- 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 tenants in Odyssey