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 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 Dale City, 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 real estate investors.
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 rental management. Although the money is in our escrow account, the money belongs to the landlord. 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.
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.
Dale City Property Management Resources
Basics
Elementary information about what property management in Dale City.
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 Dale City fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for property owners?
Cost
A breakdown of prices of property management services in Dale City
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty vets 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 want understand more about our local real estate market?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a free tool for anyone who needs to learn more about Dale City and nearby areas. The Guide to Real Estate includes information about what has sold and what is for sale, as well as a couple of surprising facts that you may not know. Furthermore, our Guide has some fundamentals of life in Dale City. Certainly, all of this is interesting for buyers and sellers, but property owners and tenants should also find these resources to be quite edifying.
Landlord Reference
a good reference for rental investors in Dale City
- Before you lease out your property in Dale City
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the tenant
- During the lease term
- End of lease term and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the rental investor get paid?
- How your management company handles the association and your community
- How your property management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt Realty finds renters
- Insurance matters for property owners using our property management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Dale City owner responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your rental investment in Dale City
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental
- When property owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting tenants in Dale City