Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?
Operating funds are monies that our real estate brokerage uses to pay for 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 Westmoreland 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 purchasers (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 savings to pay for maintenance and other incidentals that occur during rental management. Although the money is in our escrow account, the money belongs to the real estate investor. When 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.
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.
Westmoreland Square Rental Management Resources
Basics
Fundamental info regarding rental managment in Westmoreland Square.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with rental property management
Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a reliable tenant in Westmoreland Square fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for real estate investors?
Cost
An overview of fees associated with rental management services in Westmoreland Square
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of renters for our clients.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage property?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you need know more about our local real estate market?
Nesbitt Realty's Guide to Real Estate is a helpful resource for anyone who hopes to learn more about Westmoreland Square and neighboring areas. The Guide to Real Estate compiles information about what has sold and what is on the market, and a few interesting facts that you might not know. Also, our Guide features many of the fundamentals of life in Westmoreland Square. Of course, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but property owners and renters should also find this information to be very sobering.
Landlord Reference
a useful reference for rental investors in Westmoreland Square
- Before you put a renter in your property in Westmoreland Square
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During the lease term
- End of tenancy and what happens when a renter breaks the lease
- How does the rental investor get paid?
- How your rental manager handles the association and your community
- How your management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt finds tenants
- Insurance matters for owners using our property management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Westmoreland Square property owner responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental property in Westmoreland Square
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental property
- When property owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting tenants in Westmoreland Square