How do housing vouchers count towards a monthly 3X income?

[Reinhard Kurzen]

Hi there BP! I currently have a rental listed for $1,700 and I am looking to have income of 3X the rent. I have an applicant with a rental voucher for up to the full amount of rent, so 1700 plus additional income of 1788 for a total income of $3488. With the recent fair housing laws you cannot discriminate on income so I want to be careful with this situation. 3488 is only about 2X rent. How does the housing voucher count towards the 3X rent?

[Patti Robertson]

Hi @Reinhard Kurzen - I just wanted to chime in.  I do a lot of SEC 8. I want top rents, and in order to get them I have to have a tenant with income.  I also use 3 X the rent for non-SEC 8 tenants.  For SEC 8 tenants, I reduce that to one times the rent.  If they have less than that they tend not to qualify for the rent I want.  When the housing authority gives them a rent range or max rent allowance, it includes rent plus utilities.  If you are already at the max of their allowance, the property won’t be affordable for them, and SEC 8 will come back and tell you they will pay a lower amount than you want.  When they give you a rent range, understand that a single family home is on the low end of that range, a townhome is in the middle, and an apartment is on the top end of the range.  This is because the utilities for each unit type have to come out of the budget before rent can be computed, and the more exposed walls, the higher the utilities estimate.  

I wrote a blog with some SEC 8 tips that you can find on my profile if you’d like more info.