Section 8 what the Heck is it.

Allows rental assistance to low-income families. The assistance (aka Housing Choice Voucher) covers rent and utilities which is managed by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Laying the groundwork: The first step is to get the landlord and the property approved by the local housing authority. Once the landlord decides to participate in the program, he/she needs to fill out all the necessary paperwork. The one thing that Section 8 landlords can consider is that the rent is controlled. This is in accordance to the Fair Market Rent this if the housing authority feel that the rent is too high, they may ask the landlords to lower the rate to make it in line with the FMR.

Inspection. Once all paperwork is approved, the housing authority will conduct an inspection on the property. They will come and check on the walls, the doors, smoke detectors, gasoline, electricity, etc. It is the landlords' responsibility to make sure the unit is fully equipped and upgrade according to the suggestions. This inspection is conducted annually and it can be a good thing. The inspection keeps the unit up to codes with continuous maintenance while making sure that the tenants are not sabotaging the unit itself. This is to the owners' benefit as it gives them peace of mind. The emphasis is being placed on the inspection because it comes in handy, yet, post-inspection issues are not hard to fix for the owners.

Renting out the unit. Just as any rental property that are rented out, marketing is heavy. This includes posting the property on social media as well as rental advertising pages such as Craigslist. Just like regular rental, Section 8 rental posting will prompt renters to the fact that the landlord accepts Section 8 assistance voucher. Landlords should also ask the housing authority to post their rental listing on the county's website.

Going into the future. Section 8 landlords will operate the rental as any other rentals. However, there will be annual inspection. There are pros and cons to the inspection. The pros are that the landlords will be able to keep up with the maintenance annually and the renters will be kept within rental guidelines set-forth by the housing authority on top of the landlord. This will keep the renters from harming the property and the landlord to keep up the maintenance annually as compared to when problems arise. The cons are that there would potentially be repairs every year that come out of the landlord’s pocket as well as other adjustments that are needed to be made to stay within Section 8 guidelines.

Summary: Section 8 comes with pros and cons. However, the pros would outweigh the cons depending on what the owners want. Most owners would like to use Section 8 guidelines to keep their rentals in check so they do not mind the annual repairs. This can be a smart move.

Topics: real estate, rental, Section 8

Work cited: https://www.creonline.com/section-8-investing-a-primer/