District Sales Manager/Investor · Avon, OH · Member since 2014 · 1 post · 0 votes
I'm finally getting close to starting my adventure in Real Estate. I'm interested in section 8. Best books to buy? How much money do you think I need to get started if I don't want to go the no money down route. I would say I'm a cautious investor so I want to hedge my bet as much as possible.
You should have a decent nest egg. Owning houses is not cheap. One furnace can set you back $5,000 on the cheap side and wipe out your cash flow for an entire year. Times that by 20 or 40 houses it can get quite expensive to carry a large portfolio. Most lenders want to see some skin in the game now a days so I would plan on saving a little money to put into the deal.
As for books, there are no books that can prepare you for the real world of section 8 housing, lol, but one I would check out to start is The Section 8 Bible by Michael McLean and Nick Cipriano. Gives you some good tips on how to bullet proof your house to protect from tenant damage, inspections, etc... some basic information.
As a cautious investor be sure to study the section 8 strategy very carefully. It can be a wildly successful cash flow strategy for investors with the right temperament but I have also seen it chew up very wise seasoned investors and spit them out the other side. Just do your homework and most of all screen, screen, screen your tenants.