Section 8

Section-8 is a government assisted program that provides families that have had a difficult time (financially speaking) to obtain affordable housing.

If the family qualifies, Section-8 will pay most (if not all) of the family’s rent.  There seems to be stereotypes that some people have when they think of the “typical” Section-8 tenant.  But contrary to some people’s belief there are great Section-8 tenants who take great care of their house but for one reason or another they are financially strapped. 

You must still screen these tenants just like you would any other renter.  You still run credit checks, employment verifications, criminal checks, etc. You still weed out the bad and look for the good.

 Section-8 has its benefits and its drawbacks from a landlord’s point of view.

 Benefits

-You are guaranteed to get your rent money each month because it is guaranteed by the government.
-Because there are more people that need section-8 housing than there are section-8 houses – often there is less turnover and a very low vacancy rate.
-Section-8 performs regular inspections of the properties on the section-8 program. These inspections insure that the tenant is not destroying your property and the property is in good condition.
-In some instances section-8 will pay slightly above average rents. This increases your cash flow.

 Negatives

-In the beginning stages of a new section-8 leasing period section-8 takes several months (2-3) to get the landlord their first rent check.
-During the initial inspection to determine whether section-8 will approve a particular house they can be very nagging and fail a house for the most absurd reasons.
-They are extremely hard to reach on the telephone and you are always listening to a recording or leaving a message.
-They are often forgetful and tell you one thing one day, and something totally different the next.  Always note the exact name of whom you speak with as well as the date and time.
-They misplace paperwork and often contradict themselves.
-There seems to be no exact measure they use as to how much rent they will approve for a property.  It’s almost a “who you know” type of situation.

When you buy a section-8 rental property from us the tenant is already in place and most of the headaches have already taken place because most of the section-8 headaches occur before the tenant moves in.