All Forum Posts by: Dustin Letourneau

Welcome! I'm also an investor (new) in the area with 1 single family unit. Best of luck in your searches! Happy to help however I can based on my limited experience.

Thanks for sharing!

Well, Ill take the lack of replies as maybe not knowing the proper answer.  Below I'll share what I have found.  Note, this is NOT legal advice, always consult a lawyer to ensure your situation is handled proper.

1) In regards to Section 8, We tell prospective tenants that we do accept Sec8 vouchers but the house is not currently in the Sec8 program. If the tenant can convince the government to use the voucher without it being in the program and/or fixing inspection items, then we consider them just as anyone else (thus far none have been able too).

2) Yes, consider it as part of the income.

3) We have handled the viewing issue by having a pre-questionnaire (10 or so basic question) that has to be completed prior to doing any showings.  We have found that through this that most won't even fill it out, and of those that do, only a handful meet the minimum qualification.  From there we schedule viewings in a much more manageable number.

Hope this helps someone in the future!

Hello everyone,

We just listed our FIRST (woohoo!) rental unit on the market for rent.  We have quite a few interested in the property but one we scenario I'm not sure how to navigate is Section 8 housing.  Looking at the laws within Louisville, what I have understood is that Section 8 cannot be denied as a qualification.  My questions from this are the following that I'm hoping someone can lend their experience (note:  I have a call in with a law firm to discuss this from a legal entity but unsure when I will hear back from them).

1. It is my understanding that, in order to partake in the Section 8 program, we as the owner of the property have to contact the housing authority to 'sign' up to partake.  We have not done this, nor know the steps at this point.  For parties contacting us asking if we accept Section 8 - how do you all respond?  Do I tell them that the house is not yet approved as a Section 8 house but they are more than welcome to fill out an application that we can review?  We are looking to fill the vacancy as quick as we can and worried section 8 would likely drag the process out.

2. We also have your typical pre-qualification questions.  One of them being income requirement of 3x that of the rent.  For section 8, should one include the voucher amount + the amount of income they bring in when looking at total income?  I ask this, as without the Section 8 voucher, this person would not qualify.

3. Also in regards to pre-qualifications outside of section 8.  We are doing the pre-screen process to limit the number of showings we have to do - trying to get only those that have a high chance of qualifying.  If a person does not meet one of the stipulations found in the pre-qualification how do you handle the conversation of showing. I have read that one should never tell someone not to apply so I'm hesitant on how other have navigated this.  My thoughts was a response such as "Based on our pre-qualification questionnaire there is one or more items that do not meet minimum qualification.  You are more than welcome to fill our a formal application for review."

Thanks in advance for your time.

Shively has some really nice neighborhoods and still has a market where the numbers work.  Areas around UofL can be hit or miss and as Kevin said street to street will vary.  We just purchased our first unit in Jeffersontown and love that area.

@Anthony Acebo: Reach out to Leigh Wise and Surepoint Equity (https://surepointequity.com/about-us/). Their requirement is 10% of the purchase price, they will loan you 75% ARV appraisial value for rehab if needed. Likely normal but our loan is a rate for the first 6 months and then raises up a few points from 6-12mo. Our target is to be refinanced out of it by Month 4-5.

We are still VERY new to all of this, but it's amazing how much you learn and the people you get connected with once you set out to take action.
 

@Anthony Acebo: We found the deal on the MLS (it was posted at 1am in the morning and we called first thing to view it). There was LOTS of interest on the unit but we made a good enough offer to lock it in.

We are using hard money to complete the rehab process and then will be using conventional money for the refi (target is within 4 months).

Thank you all!

Hello all,

I tried doing a search but failed to find the answer I was looking for.  We are in the process of building all the forms we think we will need to start our rental business. Question is:  Do you all typically have all tenants sign the lease? Only those over 18 years of age, and if in this case do you just know by DOB given for each tenant? Separate leases for each? The reasons I'm asking is because all templates I have found, as well as prior leases used by other landlords, only have one spot for a signature at the end.  In the body of the document other tenants names are listed but never a place for them to sign.  This feels risky if the tenant who signs the lease leaves, leaving behind tenants who are named on the original but have no signatures to agreeing to the terms of said Lease.

Thanks in advance.

@Wesley B Williams : Thanks for the recommendation, I will add this to the list!