All Forum Posts by: Jennie Carolan

@Jennifer Donley

@Jennifer Donley this is so helpful. I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH. 

My husband and I just bought our first section 8 property. I excited to learn the process and wanted to reach out to the Bigger Pockets community regarding a few things: 

1. Do you do a pre-screen before you have the applicant fill out and pay for a background check?

2. What do you think of Chex Safe for a background check website? This is the website that gosection8.com recommends. For our other properties, we use myrental.com to run background checks. 

3. Do you ask the tenant for one month's security deposit upfront? I have been reading other forums on this and many say 1-2 months.

4. Any other information to know upfront! 

5. Are there any questions I can't ask (that could be considered discrimination) aside from the obvious?

Thank you! 

@Duy Nguyen So sorry I am just seeing this. We found an amazing real estate agent, Patricia Steiner. From there, she helped us to find a contractor, plumber, and electrician. We are going to be managing our property from out of state. Our rehab costs were under $2,000. It took us all summer to find this property actually! It was on the market for less than a day. I would suggest that you have a pre-approval letter from your bank when making an offer. That lets the seller know you are serious and can move forward ASAP. Let me know if you have any more questions. 

@Shawn Hansen I HAVE THE BEST ONE EVER! Call James 714- 348- 4031.He helped us get a fixed 3.35% 30 year loan on our first investment property in St. Petersburg FL. 

@Christine Myers Sorry just seeing this! St. Petersburg! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Congrats! I am a teacher in South LA and my husband and I just closed on our first investment property in FL! 

Love your story!

@John Underwood SUPER helpful. Thank you so much! 

Exterior... I should have been more specific! Sorry to hear about Arlo...

Looking for an EXTERIOR camera that will allow me to remotely view the property - that can be recorded to a cloud/something in case I need the documentation. 

I would prefer to not have one that needs to be charged. Please let me know which system you prefer and why. My husband and I are soon to be landlords who live across the country! 

@Christian Nachtrieb definitely food for thought. Thanks for sharing this article. The future mortgage rates in coastal areas/flood zones will be interesting to see...