All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Donley

@Chris Fillingham if market rents support $1300, you can get it but I’d advise to require $1500 to $2000 a month in minimum income.

@Chris Fillingham, regardless of what the county or HA will allow, you shouldn't allow people to use the basement bedroom unless there is proper egress, which there likely isn't based on your description.  I put in the lease whether the basement can be used for sleeping.

Mr. Miller is great - glad you chatted with him.  Yes the 40% rule does come into play sometimes and @Denise Evans is right, it doesn't leave much room.  

It's sort of a double edged sword - on the 1 hand, I want to get market rent and I want to have people that have some income because I find those people are generally more stable.  On the other hand, I don't want to set the tenant up to fail and if they show no income, they're not going to have to pay any of the rent which guarantees that I'll get paid all of the rent every month.

Yes, I've had some houses not get as much in rent as I had hoped due to the 40% rule but it's not usually a huge difference simply because of the area that I'm in (my average 3 bedroom rent for Section 8 is about $1100).  I have this issue mostly when I'm in higher rent areas where rents run above $1200.  

Right now, for ease of business, I require $1000 a month in income. I may increase it in areas that have higher rents in the future.

And here's my actual real life experience - the ones who have little to no income and/or who have extremely spotty, short term jobs seem to struggle the most.  Which is why I went to requiring them to have at least some income and favor the ones with longer term job history, assuming all other things are equal.  This is all written out in my screening checklist so that it's consistent. I also have a bunch of other screening criteria of course.

@Chandler C., congrats.  I'm a local STL investor and sold 2 of my properties on Roofstock last year.  There were a few bumps, especially on the 2nd deal, but overall I think they have a great process & product.

Welcome to town!

@Ryan Cleary, this is pretty black and white to me - I would say no.  They moved in without it and accepted the property as is.  

Longer version - I have applicants, interested tenants, new tenants ask for additions from time to time.  If it wasn't planned, potentially causes more problems (like an automatic garage door opener), doesn't add value, doesn't need to be done, I don't do it.

If it's a long term tenant who I know, like and trust and they request something, I might be more willing to consider it.

 I think he means the opposite - he has a 3 bedroom house and is asking if he can rent to someone with a 4 bedroom voucher.  No impact to rent in this situation.

Chris, if I've got it wrong and you've got a 4 bedroom house, then taking someone with a 3 bedroom voucher will lower the amount of rent receive.

I wouldn't do cash, it's hard to track it.

You could use a money order, I don't think you have to put an address.  You could also use Cash app, Venmo, or one of the other similar options.

@Chris Fillingham Yes you can.  Downside is you may get more people living in the house than you would with a 3 bed voucher.  More people can mean more wear and tear on property.  No impact to rent though.

I don't know what the rent amount is.  I would guess that the tenant has put that amount in when they fill out their profile.  I don't look at their profiles - I just set my screening criteria and process whoever applies against it. 

I think Section 8 is a great way to go, moratorium or not.  The tenants have a reason to follow the rules and pay their portion of rent, even if they get behind.  And at least you're getting some of the rent if a tenant gets behind.

P.S. I'm with @Russell Brazil, I have good tenants so do not have collections issues generally, even with a portfolio of only Section 8 properties.

@Isaac El, I would be hesitant to say that you're ever guaranteed to get a tenant in any situation.  Specific to this question, people with Housing Choice Vouchers ("Section 8 tenants") get to pick their own housing, s it will be up to the individual tenant to choose your place.

What I will say is this - in my area and from what I hear in many places around the country, the demand for Section 8 housing far exceeds the supply so it is extremely easy to find Section 8 tenants.  

@Denise Evans good advice!!