Section 8 Inspections

[Account Closed]

Currently closing on a property in Wilmington and I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with Section 8 inspections. Were you able to pass the first time? Anything you wish you knew before going with the inspection?

Anything could help. Should be closing in a month and want to move forward renovating as much as I can right away. 

[Patti Robertson]

The HUD inspection checklist is hard for a newbie SEC 8 landlord/PM to use because it doesn't really say what would make an item pass. You'd have to go back and forth between that and housing code. Here is a simple checklist my office uses to give to new contractors when they are getting a property ready for a SEC 8 inspection. We manage over 100 SEC 8 properties and our goal is to always pass inspection the first time. On 100+ year old houses it seems hard to. The inspector always finds something. On houses not 100+ years old it is pretty easy to pass the first time if you follow this checklist and don't just hope the inspector misses the few things you didn't get to. ;)

Good luck!  It is worth the little effort to get the house ready.  Really these are mostly safety and habitability issues that you would want right for any tenant.  The lease length for a good SEC 8 tenant is worth the little bit of paperwork and inspection hassle you go through in my opinion. 

Sounds like you will be renovating this property upon purchase.  One tip is to to forget about carpet.  Most SEC 8 landlords are converting to the luxury vinyl planks - you can get it for as little as $1.39/SF at Floors and More if you have that brand in your market.  It is far more durable than either carpet or wood laminate products.

I wrote a blog about SEC 8 if you want to take a look.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/9232/blog_posts/55313-intro-to-section-8---your-perceptions-vs-my-realities