Section 8 Housing in Jacksonville FL
Hello everyone,
I am an investor looking to rent out section 8 housing in Jacksonville FL. I have never had tenants through section 8 and was looking to see if anyone has any insights or testimonies of renting section 8 in Jacksonville. I have been looking at properties on the North, South, West, East side, and Arlignton mainly. These areas seem to have a higher ROI for each property and most 2 bed rooms accoridng to HUD have a fair market rent rate of $850-1000.
Any info or testimonies on quality of tenants, process for getting a property approved for section 8, or things to avoid/be cautious of when renting out section 8 would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and help!
-Jordan
I am also in the Jax area and wanting to buy my first rental property this year. Small multi-family is what I have my eye on. I have a good amount of capital coming soon. Did you do a conventional loan on your duplex in Ortega? How did you find it? I have heard good and bad about section 8. My unlce has 14 properties in Buffalo NY all section 8. He likes it.
Gald to see some Jacksonville fokes on here!
All good advice and I am definitely going to do extensive research on HUD rules and policy before/ if I decide to go through with section 8 housing for this property. I do see that the legalities behind section 8 for renters rights are much stronger which can lead to streneous efforts with evictions and getting someone out of a property quicker if they are not meeting the expectations in the lease agreement. However, are there ways to avoid this? Could possibly requiring a higher security deposit before moving in help weed out some applicants on sections 8 that would not be the best tenants (i don't know if i would call them "morons") but the idea of guaranteed 70% rent seems promising especially if you get better tenants that more consitently pay the other 30%. My thought behing if they can pay a higher security deposit then they most likely will have either a slightly higher or consistent form of income.
A second question @CarlMathis what do you mean by unremediable breach of the contract? For example, If you have tenants that are consistantly leaving trash in the common area, having snuck in pets, or missed three or more payments can that be grounds for eviction? Or does it need to be something along the lines of criminal charges or destruction of property to constitute grounds for eviction when dealing with HUD/section 8?
-Jordan
Hi Jordan,
I have had quite the opposite experience from what Carl is saying. We have 3 properties that are currently rented to section 8 tenants in Jacksonville, and whenever we purchase a new property we try to go that route first. In terms of removing the tenant, every year Jaxha sends out a renewal letter. You say whether you are renewing or not. It also simplifies rent increases as you let them know in that letter what you are raising the rent to and they notify the tenant of their new rental amount. In terms of evictions, the tenants are more eager to avoid that as it is almost impossible to get a new voucher after being evicted.
The property does need to be inspected after you select a tenant and fill out their voucher. They check for habitability and common things that show up are windows not opening or locking, and ventilation in the bathroom (must have a window or vent fan). There is a checklist on the Jaxha site that gives more details on the inspection.
The rent that the tenants have on their vouchers varies, and you will find a lot of people looking for a larger unit than they are priced for. HUD wants 2 heartbeats per room so you will find a lot of people who are priced for a 2 bed looking for a 3 bed and so on. Another thing to keep in mind is that the amount HUD is covering varies per voucher as well and you can see the tenants max contribution on the voucher.
In terms of tenant quality, you get the same types of people regardless of whether they are using a voucher. You can still screen them and do a background check.
If you have any questions feel free to send them my way.
Have a great day!
Best Regards,
Jeff Boyer
AgentChase Real Estate
Hi Jordan. I have my own rentals in Jacksonville and have a property management company. We have about ten section 8 tenants and that increases every month. In our experience it's been great working with the Jacksonville Housing Authority and all of our section 8 tenants have been really good. We still heavily vet all applicants with background checks, verify income and rental history. If the vouchers meet an amount the owners will accept, we move forward and approve them. The great thing about section 8 tenants is that if they have a change in income, HUD will increase the portion they pay out to us so they tenant can have more help. Also, tenants with a voucher can't break the law or get evicted or they could lose their voucher.
When you approve a section 8 tenant, you have to fill out a packet and submit that with the lease to their case worker. It's pretty straight forward. Then there will be an inspection within 10 days and after approval, you can move the tenant in. Every 1st of the month, you'll get a direct deposit from HUD and the remainder from the tenant.
One thing to note is that you aren’t allowed to accept more than the voucher amount and every tenant’s voucher amount is different. So you either wait for the right one or accept a non-section 8 tenant. We usually leave it open to all people. As long as you have a nice home, that is all anyone will want.
Best of luck to you!
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Hi everyone, I'm also interested in duplex/fourplex and section 8 in Jacksonville (buy, flip and hold) as well as SFH for short-term rentals (Airbnb). Was wondering if the rent prices and demand have been declining because of the covid. I have visited the downtown area of JAX a few times in the last 2 weeks - the city looks empty and not alive... Not sure if I got the wrong impression.
I'm currently working on a flip in Gainesville, Florida, and looking for my next project. Will be happy to connect with other investors (considering a 50/50 partnership) or local specialists who have properties for sale that are not on the market yet. I'm not attached to a specific location and also looking into Daytona Beach area and down the coast.
Good afternoon good people,
My daughter is searching for someone to accept her section 8 voucher can anyone point me in the right direction.
Hi,
My partner has a section 8 voucher and would like to purchase a house in JAX using it. We have good credit report and would be willing to fly and check the property as soon as possible. We currently live in Montana and we could no longer bear the winter. Hope we can find some help in this forum. Thank you very much.
Quote from @Elenis Camargo:
Hi Jordan. I have my own rentals in Jacksonville and have a property management company. We have about ten section 8 tenants and that increases every month. In our experience it's been great working with the Jacksonville Housing Authority and all of our section 8 tenants have been really good. We still heavily vet all applicants with background checks, verify income and rental history. If the vouchers meet an amount the owners will accept, we move forward and approve them. The great thing about section 8 tenants is that if they have a change in income, HUD will increase the portion they pay out to us so they tenant can have more help. Also, tenants with a voucher can't break the law or get evicted or they could lose their voucher.
When you approve a section 8 tenant, you have to fill out a packet and submit that with the lease to their case worker. It's pretty straight forward. Then there will be an inspection within 10 days and after approval, you can move the tenant in. Every 1st of the month, you'll get a direct deposit from HUD and the remainder from the tenant.
One thing to note is that you aren’t allowed to accept more than the voucher amount and every tenant’s voucher amount is different. So you either wait for the right one or accept a non-section 8 tenant. We usually leave it open to all people. As long as you have a nice home, that is all anyone will want.Best of luck to you!
Good insights! Which areas of Jacksonville are you looking in based on crime rating etc. I've been told to not buy in a high crime area and curious which areas you're investing in?
@Steve Meyers I personally don’t invest in high crime areas but I manage in crime areas. Personally I have rentals in 32209 and 32208 but the better parts of those zips. We manage over 250 doors have clients that acquire in all areas so we manage all over :)