CR will cover rent assurance for 3 months but beyond that its on me. i'm now 7 months vacant on one property and i'm told the city has denied the application for Section 8 b/c there are "too many vacant properties" in the area.

HOWEVER, consult with your lawyer and/or property manager to verify the applicability of the law. 

Not a lot of applications but rejected some out of caution.

...if the vacancies are frequent or extended, it can be a big expense, so I analyze this thoroughly.As for house-hacking specific costs, there are things like furniture/appliances/decor for the common areas of the house, costs of screening applicants (like background checks), cost to advertise, the time and effort required to manage a house hack, etc.  ...although these expenses are worth consideration, they tend to be much smaller and almost inconsequential compared to the big capex expenses that can come with buying the wrong property (e.g.; you might spend a couple hundred bucks on tenant screening, but a new roof might cost $20k+).Back when I was house hacking regularly, one of the most significant "costs" was the cost of my time and effort to acquire tenants (which includes all the time and effort of posting ads, responding to inquiries, answering questions, doing viewings, screening applicants, managing tenants once they were in-place, etc.).

Typically that's just a rough sketch and fill out their application.

You will need to go through your own application/licensing process from step one. 

. - Your marketing -Are you willing to funnel through applicants in a professional manner, doing background checks, etc?

So we thought it would be helpful to spell out just what we look for in a borrower, and what you can do to make your application even stronger.

If the STR applicant can demonstrate primary occupancy of the ADU or if the ADU was completed prior to 2017 then the ADU can be used as an STR for 120 days and possibly longer with extended home-sharing approval.

That means effective showings, effective applications, checking references, background checks, collecting cash or cashier checks for first & deposit and waiting for them to clear, starting the eviction process immediately if they are a no pay, etc.