I actually signed up for @Joe Fairless education program a few months back.

I had to take a short class in order to finalize the assistance....BUT my loan officer told me that she would give me the $5000 credit as a 'house warming gift' so i wouldnt have to deal with the program as she said they were difficult to deal with.

We were able to keep the first property (purchased with a USDA 0% down loan - great program) as a rental and move into a somewhat less expensive single family home.  

I have learned a few tips and tricks but I haven't finished the whole program as of yet.

For what it's worth....the coordinator of our homeless program came by to discuss this program with our medical team this morning since we do get our fair share of homeless veterans admitted with medical issues and no where to go at discharge.Our current program has 150 filled vouchers, 11 new vouchers and a waiting list of 50 potential applicants.The coordinator handed out a pamphlet describing the VA HomeFront program. As

If you use an online software or program as a landlord, which is usually free to you, in your rental application you can require a background check and the applicant will pay that fee - usually $35-45 depending on what you want.

Thank you for this information, I will look into the program as school starts but is there a way I could potentially do a lease option on a property this year or is that just unrealistic?

I am assuming that you are doing a full documentation loan program? As

It's not an easy loan to get but the rate is very attractive and the fees are relatively low, as they are regulated.I have access to the program as a Mortgage Broker but have yet to do one.

In the 5+ space, I use the Freddie small balance program as a basic benchmark for pricing and structure.