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. 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 Gunston Square, 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 real estate investors.
Contingency reserve is a special type of escrow.
A contingency reserve account is money that is held in escrow 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.
Gunston Square Rental Management Resources
Basics
Fundamental information about what rental managment in Gunston Square.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with rental property management
Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a great tenant in Gunston Square fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for property owners?
Cost
A list of prices of rental management services in Gunston Square
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 investments?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Should you understand more about the community?
Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for anyone who needs to learn more about Gunston Square and neighboring communities. The Guide to Real Estate provides data about what has sold and what is for sale, and a couple of surprising facts that you might not be aware of. Also, our Guide features some fundamentals of living in Gunston Square. As a matter of course, most of this is useful for purchasers and sellers, but property owners and renters might also find this data to be very informative.
Landlord Reference
a useful archive for rental investors in Gunston Square
- Before you move a tenant into your property in Gunston Square
- 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 owner get paid?
- How your property manager handles the association and your community
- How your property manager handles utilities
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management finds renters
- Insurance matters for owners using our rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Gunston Square property owner responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your property in Gunston Square
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental property
- When owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting tenants in Gunston Square