All Forum Posts by: Jamie O'Connell

Hi Jamie, very interesting post. 

What states do you invest in and would you consider investing out of state?

I have sec 8 tenants and agree with a lot of what you say but bottom line sec 8 is awesome if your property is in a bad area where its hard to find tenants that pay otherwise, if its in a good are it is MUCH more profitible and less risk/headache to have market rate tenants. Just wait until a sec 8 tenant gets fails to recertify or loses voucher and you need to evict these people who have barely any money/credit to find another place.

"I have had to take because slum lords dont take care of their property has been staggering. I wont say I go above and beyond on fixing up the places and making them jaw dropping beautiful, I still do them up enough to where I would be comfortable living there. I think that is a big thing that a lot of people dont understand."

I love seeing this as it is one of my biggest frustrations in the investment game.  Slum lords give good investors a bad name that we all have to deal with.  We have always had the philosophy that if we rehab our properties to a quality level, we will get higher rents, better tenants who take care of them, and we will improve the neighborhoods we invest in.  There are always the exceptions, but overall we have had success with this.

What's the process to evict a tenant who doesn't pay their small portion or otherwise trashes the place. 

 Seems like you have learned certain concepts that workbut tend to escape even the most experienced landlords. For you to be in the game 2 years Im impressed and see you are headed to much bigger things. Your approach of fixing them up nice enough is one of several things some dont seem to comprehend. The best thing you can have is good section 8 tenants who respect and take care of your place. Treating them with respect and providing a good experience  keeps them there for a very long time; pushing your cash flow  and building your equity. The notion that slumlords believe their tenants will positively be receptive to living in sub-substandard sht holes while being treated with disrespect escapes me.  Either way its so refreshing to hear this work for others in this forum as opposed to people saying they are savages and need to be treated like animals. Back when I first joined BP, I linked up with an experienced low income landlord. We toured his units and he was horrible to his tenants. Then he advised me that If I rent to so called "these people" I need to put in animal cages. Again, its so refreshing to see the genuine side of this coin. Congrats again! 

Glad to hear you are doing well with this. I have a vast degree of experience in section 8 rentals myself. Its great to hear positive experiences because most dont seem to have them. Like you, I have had positive outcomes. It honestly depends on the landlord and their abilities for the most part. Many fail to understand screening, managing, understanding the culture and treating people with dignity.  You are doing things right and I can tell from how you present yourself you somewhat understand and respect the environment. Congratulations and keep up the great work because you are providing a wonderful service and positive experiences to the community that typically has negative experiences in housing oh too often.   

Thank you for posting! We currently have just 2 section 8 tenants in our small 16 unit apartment complex. One has been there for over 24 years. She keeps her place very tidy and it is much appreciated. She didn't start out on section 8 but had to quit working due to health reasons. Most likely just what the program was meant for. Our other tenant also does a good job taking care of the place but he's only been there 3-4 years. We purchased the complex from my father who had many section 8 tenants during the 20 years that he owned it. He was NEVER good at tenant screening. Other than the first tenant I mentioned that we inherited with the place, he had others that were terrible. I am a huge supporter of screen, screen and screen those potential tenants. The more we can learn about them, the better chance we'll have of protecting our investment. Section 8 isn't a hassle for us. We never have to be there for inspections. Paperwork to be signed is mailed back and forth and we only do our own lease as a formality and an extra chance to go in and check out the apartment to see if we need to fix something. I don't believe section 8 in our area, here in se Iowa, will back pay for the time waiting for applications to be approved. They usually say what there's a waiting list for available funds also. No security deposit either. 

Thank you for sharing your experience with section 8. I have never considered this avenue, but based on what you wrote, there are many good reasons to look more into it. 

great post! thank for sharing. 

We always use section 8 for our SFH property. Over the years, we have had some great tenants and some nasty ones. Our most recent tenant just moved out and did not keep a clean house so our clean up and turnover is taking longer than usual.