All Forum Posts by: Helen Kirk

I have both Section 8 and non-section 8 properties.  For the non-section 8 property, I was contacted by a section 8 renter, and I just told them that this property hasn't been set up with the housing authority as a Section 8 property.

I bought a foreclosure last November (2016) that had a Section 8 renter in it.  I elected to keep the renter, and had to fill out a "Landlord Packet" at the local housing authority.  I had to give them a copy of the foreclosure deed to prove I owned the property, but it was an extremely easy process.

Strange thing....the prior owner paid the property taxes AFTER she lost the house to foreclosure. Out of a sense of fairness, I let her have the December rent to sort of reimburse her for that..... error.

I'm kind of interested.  I have a lot of friends and relatives down there.  I currently live in Auburn, AL and have 3 rental properties at this time, all local.  I've looked online, but haven't found anything that I'd want to pull the trigger on in that area.

Thanks @Patti Robertson and @Gail K.. I'm sure eventually I'll learn all the details of owning a Section 8 property. The tenant I have seems to be great, the only thing is I feel she won't tell me if there is anything that needs addressing with the unit. She just says everything is ok. Meanwhile she is paying a lot of money in utilities for an ancient heating and cooling system, the floors in her cabinets have nearly rotted out, and the shed outside has what appears to be only particle board for siding. I'll get all these issues eventually fixed, and then work on cosmetic things like painting and possibly replacing the linoleum that is throughout the home. Still, the unit only cost 45K and the rent is $700 per month, so I can't complain about this deal. I'm pretty sure that ARV will be around 100K or more.

@Gail K. If the housing inspector fails the unit's Section 8 inspection, does this mean the tenant has to leave if the owner takes issue with the items that failed?  For example, dirty drip pans on the stove.... seems like a minor issue.  What are your options for continuing under the Section 8 plan if you don't correct every problem they find?

My insurance person and I went through my new unit, and there is a lot of stuff that I'm surprised passed any kind of inspection.  I brought these issues up to the housing authority and they seemed shocked that these items weren't addressed over the years.

@Gail K. what happened?  I'm curious since I just purchased a foreclosure that has a Section 8 tenant in place.  She has been there 12 years, so I don't think turnover is going to be a problem.  I had to fill out a Landlord's Packet with the local housing authority and the amount of rent I will be receiving is a little lower than what I was expecting, but not exceedingly so for the neighborhood it is in.  It is a nice 3br, 1-1/2 bath with a 2 car carport.  Brick siding.  It hasn't been updated in a while though so I will be doing some maintenance that has been deferred by the prior owner, but I still think I got a very good deal.

We aren't currently having meetings, since I couldn't get everyone on the same page date and time wise.  I suppose the interest wasn't as high as I had thought too.  If we do have one, I'll be sure to contact everyone that I know of in the area, as well as posting another event notice on here.

I've heard that if you rent it for a certain length of time, you will be able to flip it afterwards with minimal tax costs, but I haven't looked up the specifics since I am a buy and hold investor for now. I think they also look at "intent" within your investing history.  For example, if you are usually a buy and hold investor and you flip one property, you might be able to get a break, but then again, I can't speak on this with any authority, this is just what I have heard somewhere.  Check with a tax lawyer.

I bought a foreclosure at our county courthouse steps that Auction.com conducted in late November 2016.  It took about 2 weeks to actually receive the deed, but it turned out to be a great deal.  The house was occupied by tenants, which will remain.  They are Section 8 tenants, but have been there for 12 years, and both the local housing authority and the current property manager say that they have been great tenants.  There are no repairs that need to be done at this point.  The previous owners actually paid the taxes after the auction, which surprised me, so since the December rents have already been sent, I'm not going to dispute that.  My rents will begin Jan 1st.  My only concern is whether or not to keep the current property management in place, as they want 12%.  In my opinion, that seems a bit high.  Anyway, this was my first purchase using Auction.com, and there were no problems.

I happened upon my first property by looking at realtor.com.  This property had only been listed four 4 days.  It was a 4 bedroom townhouse close to our local university, and the price was listed as $74,000.  I knew that in this area the townhouses were running around $110-130K, so I quickly called the realtor to view the property.  She told me that there were multiple offers on it already but she would show it to me.  It was in need of rehab since the lady that owned it had not touched it in decades.... think green shag carpet, olive green appliances which probably didn't work, and lots of grunge.  I saw the potential and offered $80K, which was accepted.  It took 6 months to close since the owner was in a nursing home and her conservator had to get permission from her nieces and nephews to do the sale.  Interesting, since she wasn't dead yet!  She needed that cash for her expenses.  Anyway, after spending nearly 20K on the rehab, (5K more than expected), I was able to rent it out and it cash flows about 650.00 a month.  My total expenses were a 50K mortgage from a portfolio loan from my credit union, 30K of my own funds for a down payment, and 20K rehab loan from family.