All Forum Posts by: Steve Morris

Yes, having a relationship (ie deposit $10M and they'll loan you $1M back) helps on properties that have "issues".

Sorry, LURA = Land Use Restriction Agreement.  On Tax Credit sales for LIH, it'll get recorded and is usually something like: "For 30 years you agree to only verify and accept tenants that earn <60% Area Median Income (AMI)"  Numbers change, something like that would be recorded against title.

If you don't screen for income, then you're market rate.  I'd treat a Sec 8 voucher holder like any other tenant when it comes to qualifying.

Call a couple of architects and ask them who they like.

Well in any case you're going to need to personally qualify for a loan.

An LLC is just a way to hold title, but (if you're in those states), you're going to have a trust deed recorded regardless of what has the title.

Call them when they're home and in a good mood.

Which means, who the h*** knows.  

I'm of the school of thought that you tell yourself I can only call or not call certain times is an excuse not to call - Which you don't need.

Well, WHAT DOES YOUR PSA SAY?  You know the one you signed and read and understood?

Something like fraud in the omission, at a min, I'd not close until you get to the bottom of it.  If you bail, what are your liq damages in the PSA?

1) Learn the local tenant laws inside/out.  As a landlord you do NOT get one screw-up

2) Learn how to track all expenses and income to the penny and how to tell when things are wrong.  Figure out what sort of automation you want to use since once you commit, due to the hardship of switching systems, you're almost married for life. 

3) If your first deal, I'd join a local rental owner's association since they have the latest forms and people facing the same things.

4) If this is your first time and since things can go wrong, I'd really recommend hiring a prop mgr and watching them like a hawk to learn the first year - I'd count it as very cheap tuition.  If they use software for management (yes, please) make sure they understand YOU get access also, so if they leave they can't hold your info hostage.

Most of it is shameless self-promotion.  Kinda like how college GPAs are all trending to 4.0 or schools giving out participation trophies.

I'm sure there's certain percentage (esp if they're still using the same person for a while) that are happy.

However, my question is if someone stands to gain remuneration from promoting a service.

HUD sets a FMR (fair market rent) max by county by unit type (eg 1 beds) and income (eg 60% AMI) for stuff with a LURA (ie requirement you screen for income of tenants being below a threshold). Do you have a LURA?

If not, I'd treat everyone with a Sec 8 voucher equally for screening/income (its good fair housing practice) and set your rent at what it takes to rent out.  Don't think there's any major advantage/disadvantage with Sec 8 voucher holders (well maybe getting the voucher on the 1st via EFT, but you still need to get the co-pay).

All the local HA (housing auth) seem to do this differently (they get the checks from HUD to divvy up), but realize that the Sec 8 + tenant copay needs to be close to market, otherwise, market-rent guys like you won't take them.

If you do accept a Sec 8 voucher, get the contact info of the caseworker to set up EFT and in case you get a lousy tenant you need the caseworker to use the death penalty (ie pulling the voucher).