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. 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 Great_Falls, 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 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 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.
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.
Great_Falls Property Management Resources
Basics
Fundamental info regarding rental managment in Great_Falls.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with property management
Find A Tenant
Market your property to rent to find a great renter in Great_Falls fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for landlords?
Cost
A breakdown of prices of rental management services in Great_Falls
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of renters for property owners.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage property?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you want know more about the area?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a helpful tool for everyone who wants to find out more about Great_Falls and surrounding areas. The Guide to Real Estate has data about what has sold and what is on the market, as well as a couple of interesting facts that you might not know. In addition, our Guide has quite a few of the fundamentals of life in Great_Falls. As a matter of course, all of this is useful for buyers and sellers, but owners and renters will also find the facts to be somewhat useful.
Landlord Reference
a good archive for property owners in Great_Falls
- Before you put a renter in your property in Great_Falls
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During tenancy
- End of tenancy and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the property owner get paid?
- How your property manager handles the association and your community
- How your property manager handles utilities
- How Nesbitt finds renters
- Insurance matters for rental investors using our rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Great_Falls property owner responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental investment in Great_Falls
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental property
- When landlords don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Great_Falls