All Forum Posts by: Dana Powell

Thanks @Russell Brazil for taking the time to respond.  My question states when the product itself is at fault--not poor installation--why should I be expected to pay to rip it out and have re-installed?  The warranty itself says that if installation was determined to be the cause of the fail, that the manufacturer will not honor the warranty.  But I no longer need an answer to the warranty portion of my question.  I checked other warranties and replacement/refund cost of product only seems to be the standard.  LL actually goes further in the opposite direction:  it only offers a store credit, lol.

A small local floor retailer says FloorsPlus product, $4/sq ft is his store's high seller to DC condo owners.  He only sells the product with 
20 MIL wear layer.  He installs for about $2.60/sq ft.  The warranty (link below) only applies to refunding or replacing the product; is that typical?  If a payout of a claim is deemed necessary because of an inferior product, it seems unfair that I as the buyer would have to bear the cost of ripping out the inferior product and the cost of re-installation.  Another concern is that the distributer was only established in 2020.  Should I be concerned that product made in China by a company specializing in laminate wall panels?  Should I go with a more tried and true brand like LifeProof?    TIA for your guidance!

https://www.shopfloorsplus.com... (warranty)

https://www.shopfloorsplus.com... (specs)

Thank you!

Also, I plan on holding long-term because with favorable rates, the rent is lucrative.  I would receive $1570 more in section 8 per month than the market rental rate.  

@Jack Seiden thanks for the reply! I have a high DTI so I can only get loans based on the asset covering the debt and not my income. I'll call some local banks tomorrow. I heard Eagle Bank is investor-friendly, but again my DTI....

I cashed out a refi at 4%; should I use those funds to purchase an investment property at 6.75% interest with a $8000/yr cash flow? My COC would be 6.7%. And I'm purchasing market price on a DSCR loan and am not expecting property to appreciate (it's a condo). Even if rates fall years from now, I'd unlikely be able to refinance because the "market" rent (which is much lower than my actual, section 8 rent) wouldn't cover the debt service. What to do? I have a great tenant ready to go; guaranteed section 8 rent to cover the debt service and a seller offering a 2% credit--I might be able to get 3% which would cover almost all of my closing costs. Right now money is sitting in my bank account, losing value. But maybe I should be patient and wait for housing prices to come down? Any advice would be much appreciated! FYI: property has been on market 18 days and I'm in DC where appropriately-priced properties are sold within 2 weeks.

@Danny Lambert. where did you learn this?  I was told by a specialist in the DC office that vouchers could only be used for entire unit, not rooms.

@Ray Slack and @Manuel Rivera, I am interested in buying in the 20720 because of the high housing choice voucher payment standards.  I currently have 4 properties in DC rented to voucher recipients and in DC actual market comps are not used to determine rent payment for a particular unit.  Instead, approved rent is based on neighborhood and size of unit.  So I have been able to pinpoint exactly what section 8 rent would be before I purchased a unit.  Not so cut and dry with Maryland's section 8 program, I see.

Can you give me an idea of what rent a 2 or 3 bedroom on Rockport Lane would be? Where would the housing authority look for comps---Zillow? MLS?

@Sergio Toledo  and @Andrew Einsmann,

Hope you are well.  I am interested in buying property in Maryland neighborhoods with high section 8 payment standards, such as zip code 20720. I purchased 3 units in DC with this approach but with the steep rise in interest rates, I can no longer cash flow sufficiently.  Can either of you recommend a realtor experienced with the program as well as with investment property in general?  Are either of you currently pursuing section 8 deals?  Anyone else out there?

@Brad Jungers  The lease term is 1 year and then extends month to month.  The HAP remains in effect as long as the lease is in effect.  

@Ryan O'Mara, the section 8 rent is higher than the market rent. Using the housing choice voicer rent, the DSCR is 1.6.

My hesitation is that even with the section 8 rent, my COC is about 6%. I will be out of pocket close to $125k and only netting around $8400/year. However, I'm not sure how else to invest the money and right now it's just wasting away in my bank account.