Investor · Collierville, TN 38017 · Member since 2017 · 842 posts · 604 votes
Section 8 inspections sound scary until you've passed a few hundred of them. They're not looking for a perfect house — they're checking that it's safe, clean, and functional.
Here's what actually fails a unit in Memphis: no working smoke detectors or CO detectors, chipped or peeling paint (lead risk, especially in pre-1978 houses), broken window locks or missing screens, outlets that don't work or have exposed wiring, no hot water, dead stove burners, doors that don't lock or close right, plumbing leaks, trash and debris around the property, and a water heater missing its discharge pipe.
The fix is simple: walk the house with a checklist before you call the housing authority. I spend maybe $500 to $1,500 on a pre-inspection punch list, and it turns a three-week fail-and-rebook cycle into a pass the first time. A failed inspection costs you a full month of rent — on a $1,650 Section 8 payment, that's real money.
My rule: if I wouldn't hand the keys to a family member, it's not inspection-ready.
What failed your first Section 8 inspection — or what's the one item you check first?
solid rule and take. have not placed that many sec 8 tenants but I did start just meeting the inspector at the house personally and getting their cell number, and then if anything came up, (usually to your point a minor 6 minute fix: torn screen, stove not level etc) I'd get it done that day for the most part and text them the photos of it being completed prior to them being done for the day and can generally avoid needing to schedule them to come back out. Not every inspector I've run into has been cool with this, but most of them seem to want to get the units rented as much as we do so they generally try to work with me on the stuff. But yes it does always seem to be the "minor thing" that they call out.