All Forum Posts by: Tatyana Shevnina

@James Bond  - Welcome to BP! 

@Gary Dezoysa- I'm not a section 8 expert, but I wonder if the high demand is cause by the discrepancy between the section 8 allowed rents and market rate rents. At least that seems to be the case in some of the Bay Area cities. Something to consider before you commit to section 8 along with the inspections your property will need to pass.

If you search for section 8, there are a lot of other threads on this topic. I also heard of a "section 8 bible" book.

Good luck!

Sounds like he saw you as potential competition and tried to scare you away. I guess he wasn't successful?

Speaking from a tenant side, I agree with @J. Martin in that the rents set by section 8 program fall far short from market rents. My mom received a section 8 voucher about 6-7 years ago in San Francisco. We looked but couldn't find anything remotely suitable for her to rent. The rent cap was waaay too low for anything in a safe neighborhood; virtually nothing on craigslist where landlord accepted sec. 8 and no vacancies in apartment complexes catering to sec. 8. Had to let the voucher go. I think the situation was different in the mid 90's when you could rent a place in Park Merced with section 8.

With regard to quality of tenants and I can only speak for the russian-speaking immigrants I know who have section 8 -- they tent to be older, retired or semi-retired and will probably skip a meal first rather than be late on rent :)

Congratulations!! And many thanks to Josh, Brandon and everyone who shares their knowledge and experience in the forums, blogs and podcasts.

Learning something new, interesting and useful every day.

Very interesting article. Thank you for sharing, @Jon Klaus. I subscribed to the blog as well.

Great post @J. Martin!  Thank you.

Being frugal allowed me to save up for a downpayment on a condo (former primary, now a rental). I started out renting a modest in-law that came with furniture, ate out mostly on social occasions, bought clothes at discount stores. Fast forward 5 years, decided to buy a new car :) but luckily changed course and started looking at below market rate units in SF. While going to workshops, was told to try for a market rate place instead. The housing price dip and first-time homebuyer credit helped.

With being frugal, I think it helps to have a baseline to work from -- knowing what you want and what works for you. Pushing yourself below the baseline will likely cause unhappiness. For me, the baseline was living without roommates while renting and staying in SF when buying. Could've saved more money sharing a place or bought more house outside SF. But that wasn't for me. 

My grandparents are the most frugal people I know. At the same time, they are the ones encouraging me to live and enjoy life. Reading this thread, I thought that enjoying life same as consuming alcohol "should be done responsibly." 

Thanks again and good luck!

@Tiffany Smith  - Yes, renting out a room is classified as rental income, reportable on Schedule E. I would suggest working with a tax professional so that you take advantage of deducting all the applicable expenses. This will reduce your rental income and may even generate a rental loss.

The article below provides a good overview.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tax-issues-when-renting-out-room-your-house.html

Congrats on the first property!

@Kevin Lehna

Welcome to BP! I'm also new here and have one rental (former primary home). BP is a great place to network, learn and figure out how to grow the portfolio. The resources are endless - I personally like listening to podcasts. 

Good luck!

@Cole Walker 

I don't have a recommendation, but I found my property management company in San Francisco from Yelp.com based on reviews. I also took advantage of a yelp deal the PM company had at that time --- they marketed my condo and found a tenant for $100. 

Good luck and hope you get some direct recommendations as well.