Proper Expectations for Low Income Applicants (Chicago)

[Sean Taylor]

My wife and I have purchased our second rental property and this time are working in a lower income area of Chicago (South Shore).  The average household income is around $25k/year and we have our 1-units and studios aggressively priced at $650 / $550 (tenant pays heat) respectively.  

We're currently dealing with a lot of turnover and are trying to better understand how to better qualify Lower Income applicants.  Normally we'd shoot for 600+ credit, 3x rent to income, solid job stability, and no criminal/eviction issues.  I'm starting to wonder if these are reasonable expectations given the demographic of the neighborhood.  In the case they aren't, how do I best set reasonable standards to ensure we're at least targeting the best candidates given the demographic.

Any experienced veterans have some newbie tips on balancing high qualification standards in more challenging economic demographics?  

[Fernando Angelucci]

@Sean Taylor Managing low income is an interesting challenge. We own property in much worse areas of Southern Chicago and have found the #1 component is to be present and to keep communication open. I have found it best to look at the situation from the renter's point of view. There are a lot of "slum lords" in these areas who do not put a penny into their buildings and look at their tenants as solely income and not people. Thus, tenants start to get the " me vs the evil landlord" mindset.

I enjoy working with Section 8 for a few reasons...

1.) There is a shortage of participating properties meaning there are more voucher holders than places for them to rent. This shortage leads to higher than market rents as well as strict requirements for tenancy. If the tenant does something to violate the rules of the voucher program, they lose it and do not have a chance of getting that voucher back for quite some time. This leads to tenants being on their best behavior to not lose that "meal ticket." If they are not aware of this fact, make them aware of these facts in your tenant introduction meeting.

2.) Most, if not all, of the rent is direct deposited into your account in the beginning of the month. Enough said.

3.) There are multiple sub programs to help even with the tenant paid portion of the rent such as the Catholic charities, Veteran's programs, etc that give an extra layer of protection that rent will be received while also doing a good thing for underserved individuals. No one wants to see a homeless vet. We work with the VA as our first option when finding tenants.

If you want good tenants who stay for the long haul, you will want to have the best tenants in the best places. We do this in a few ways.

1.) Offer "voucher upgrades," meaning allow 2-bedroom voucher holders to rent your 3-bedroom.

2.) Have the best rental in the neighborhood by having stainless steal, granite, and nice amenities that you would expect of a north side rental property.

3.) For multi-family buildings, actively create a culture that someone one wants to be a part of. Somethings we do are offer grocery gift cards for our tenants when they move in, supply a community garden space where tenants can plant their own vegetables, and ask great tenants if they have any friends or relatives that would be interested in living in the building (traits are often shared among the five people you are closest with).

Closing thoughts: it is always cheaper to have a vacant unit than one that is filled with a bad tenant who is looking for the cheapest rent. Let me know if you are looking for more properties as we also wholesale around 5 properties in southern Chicago per month.

Cheers!