What's the latest on section 8? Go or no go?

[Kyle Shankin]

I'm looking to buy and am going to be viewing a property that already has a tenant in it, and the tenant is being subsidized via section 8.  I don't have any experience or much knowledge about section 8. When I talked to my realtor about it, she sounded positive over the prospect of the government paying the rent. However, after reading this article on BP regarding section 8, I'm concerned over the possibility that the tenant would not be able to pay rent, even with the subsidy. 

So I'm asking you all for your experiences. Do you all think renting out to section 8 tenants is a good thing or a bad thing? 

[Michinori Kaneko]

i had two tenants that were supposed to move into a property in early Jan ~ early Feb (same property).  I had 47 applications on that property but we decided to go with section 8.  that property is still vacant because both potential tenants fell apart because we couldn't schedule the section 8 inspection (due to shut down they are backlogged).  I'd say stay away from section 8 for at least few more months until they are back to normal.