Section 8 Housing

[Account Closed]

Curious about how others feel about renting to Section 8 tenants. I was reviewing the rules and it appears things have changed from a while back. Any positive or negative reactions with relation to current rules and recent experiences? Thanks

[Kevin Hunter]

@Account Closed, I just purchased a four family and am renting to Section 8 tenants for the first time.  In this case thus far I have been extremely happy.  In fact, when I purchased the house, the unit they are in was rented under market value.  I was able to immediately raise the rent to market value with no additional money out of the tenant's pocket.  One thing that is more annoying than anything, and take that with a grain of salt, is I get two checks each month.  First check is from the housing authority and that arrives on the 2nd or 3rd of each month, then I receive a second check from the tenants around the 5th.  Although not a big deal, it is just one more moving part. 

The tenants themselves have been good thus far.  I closed in May so I am only a couple of months in but it has been ok so far.  I will keep you in the loop as time goes by. 

One other thing I like is the housing authority does a quarterly inspection. I actually like this because they are checking up on the house for me for free, essentially.  Just one more look every couple of months in addition to my property manager.