Hi, I have a 3 Br/2ba rental in 38141 area of Memphis. I was wondering if anyone know if Section 8 authority is easy to work with in that area? Or is it easier to rent non-sec 8? Any input is appreciated. Thank you.

@Emily G.

It is pretty easy to work with in this area, you just have to know the rules and abide by them to the Tee.

Hi Derrick, Thank you for your quick response. I went their MHA website and the comments from users of their service is very poor So I'm a little hesitant to get into the Sec 8 space. Do you have positive experience working with the Memphis Housing Authorities on Sec 8 rentals? I have lots of inquires for my rental without S8, so not sure if it's worth the trouble. I read many conflicting inputs. Thank you.

Sec 8 in Memphis is great. Don't be concerned about it at all. The only issue is sometimes they cramp you on rent level so make sure you are aware of that. But otherwise Sec 8 is easier money than your own tenants.  

Section 8 is decent. Case Management is better bc that organization is actually who signed the lease and not the tenant so they are responsible for the property. Section 8 has been known to just reduce rent at their leisure. 

Memphis is such a good market you don’t really need them honestly. Maybe if you had a low income home in a rough area. 

Dean & Curt, Thanks for the info. My situation is this....I did not have a very good experience with my property management company in the last 4 years. They were a turnkey provider, sold me the property and then managed it. It was my first out of state rental so I did not know to vet the house and the seller well. Since I took back the house after two not so great tenant experiences and lots of lost rent and repairs. I felt the renovation work they did was of poor quality and selection. Now I'm fixing what they did poorly, or not at all. Since I have time, I'm planning to manage it myself and see how that goes. I don't have to go Sec 8, but it sounds like an interesting niche. Help people out as well. Thanks for your input. 

yes I have positiveexperiences with them and negative experiences with then but overall it's the best thing to have guranteeed rent coming in regardless of what family situation car trouble,  illness, lost of job, etc that can and will happen in tenant's lives you still get paid from sec 8.

I appreciate all the input. There's not perfect solution, but this may be a good option for me to try. I will google and find out how to do this. Thank you!

I can't get through the Sec. 8 phone number. Any tips? Thank you!

@Emily Guido
I have two rental properties in Memphis and thinking about going to the Section 8 route.

Did you decide to go with section 8 after this thread? How was your experience?

I look forward to hopefully hearing back.

Thank you for your time.

@Joe Funicello The toughest part with section 8 is passing their inspection IMO. If you or your PM haven't built up a good relationship with the local MHA rep then they are more likely to nitpick every item. Once you've made it through the intial inspection then it's fairly easy. They do periodic inspections of the property, but the big hump is just the initial one. Section 8 tenants often pay more than market rent. (There seems to be a shortage of section 8 approved houses)

There may be different routes to getting a tenant, but what I did was I found the section 8 tenant first, and then I worked to get the house approved by section 8. Other people may do it vice versa . Regardless, MHA's rent was about 10% higher than market rent for my particular property.

Originally posted by @Joe Funicello :

@Emily Guido
I have two rental properties in Memphis and thinking about going to the Section 8 route.

Did you decide to go with section 8 after this thread? How was your experience?

I look forward to hopefully hearing back.

Thank you for your time.

I don't have a good property management company. Lost a lot of money managing the PM. I did not go Sec 8. Found a good tenant via local RE agency. Currently, I'm managing the property myself. 

@Emily Guido

Thank you for your response.

You are managing the property from Cali? I'd love to direct message you some questions and for some advice via your experiences, would that be ok?

@Jack Inman thank you for the information and sharing your experience. I will definitely be looking into the Section 8 approval process in Memphis. It seems like a good route if you dot all your i's and cross all your t's.

Enjoy your holiday and thank you for the information!

@Jack Inman do you know some of the key house "needed" items and landlord requirements for Memphis that make it difficult to get approved?

Lot of complaints about dealing with MHA (Section 8).  They don't always know what they are doing which can cause confusion, headaches, and money.   MHA will have to review the property and then give you a list of things to get fixed.  No matter what anyone tells you on this board....it just depends on what MHA says.

Thank you @Tyler Tapley appreciate the information.

Yes I'm doing the long distance thing....not the best but doing my best, but may not be the best for everyone. Sure, send me your questions. 

Originally posted by @Joe Funicello :

@Emily Guido

Thank you for your response.

You are managing the property from Cali? I'd love to direct message you some questions and for some advice via your experiences, would that be ok?

I am also going to message you, Emily, if that's okay. I just got an offer accepted on a single family rental in Memphis - my first. Would love to hear about any challenges you've experienced so far, what you think about the market and/or things you might have done differently. Happy to also share my experience so far, too.

@Emily Guido just inboxed you. Thank you.