And with my sister not working and being a single mother it was a tough financial household.

. * Use of non-borrowing household member income is not calculated into DTI, it's simply a compensating factor to allow DTI to go up to 50%.

If you plan on buying a multi don't look at cap rate, look at vacancy,  if it's 100% chances are its too cheep and you could probably get away with raising the rent, if it's at 50% maybe the area is terrible or the units dont fit well with the people living in the area. its a bad investment to have one bedroom units if the area's average household is +4 people. 

You might want to go with a franchise mold remediation company, yes they are expensive, but they could identify better than your household contractor.

They should talk with their case manager at the Housing Authority or whichever agency administers their Section 8.What I do know from our experience in working with Section 8 tenants, and this has happened before with one of our tenants, after one of the parties dies, the make up of the household and household income will be redetermined.

One option is Union Bank, offer a low down product for lower income households.

It is not uncommon to see changes in the makeup of a household.

You also agree to report immediately in writing to us: (i) any evidence of a water leak or excessive moisture in the dwelling unit, common hallways, storage room, garage or other common area; (ii) any evidence of mold that cannot be removed with a common household cleaner; (iii) any failure or malfunction in heating, ventilation or air conditioning, and (iv) any inoperable doors or windows.

I am actually getting ready to record an educational piece on this and will have it on YouTube soon but until then here are the factors that are considered.  1.Age of the property2.Demographic location and crime statistics3.Average household income4.Geographic and economic growth projections5.Annual appreciation forecast 6.Monthly Rental income7.AmenitiesAnd here is a break down based on the Texas market. 

From what I remember on that job, the bank wanted the package appraised for internal purposes and as they were all rental households operated by same owner, in the same small town Ohio, we were able to knock out like 128 units (mixture of SF and MF buildings) as a "single economic unit", or operated as an apartment essentially.