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 even so, 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 Downtown, 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 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 property owner. If the property management ends, that money is promptly returned to the real estate investor.
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.
Downtown Property Management Resources
Basics
Basic information regarding management services in Downtown.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with rental property management
Find A Tenant
Market your property to rent to find a great renter in Downtown fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for property owners?
Cost
A breakdown of fees associated with rental management services in Downtown
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 rental property?
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 everyone who needs to review important real estate information about Downtown and neighboring communities. The Guide to Real Estate has facts regarding what has sold and what is for sale, and a few surprising facts that you may not be aware of. Furthermore, our Guide has many of the aspects of living in Downtown. Of course, all of this is helpful for purchasers and sellers, but real estate investors and tenants should also find this information to be quite sobering.
Landlord Reference
a free reference for landlords in Downtown
- Before you lease out your rental property in Downtown
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the renter
- During the lease term
- End of lease term and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the owner get paid?
- How your property management company handles the association and your community
- How your management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management finds renters
- Insurance matters for landlords using our rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Downtown rental investor responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental property in Downtown
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your property
- When landlords don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Downtown