IS SECTION 8 RECOMMENDED FOR FIRST-TIME LANDLORDS?

[Talina Alvarado]

I am getting ready to list my first rental property. I called a real estate lawyer to inquire about some paperwork and she expressed to me that she didn't recommend section 8 for first-time landlords. She says it is a lot of work and there are a lot of scammers. I'm not sure what kind of scamming they do. I have heard mixed reviews. Some people love section 8 and say they take care of the property because they do not want to loose their voucher and some people say they destroy the property since they "don't have any skin in the game". I'm so confused as to which route to take, any advice or input is greatly appreciated.

[Jay Hinrichs]

we owned a large portfolio of section 8  multiple hundreds of them in the deep south.

to me section 8 is somewhat regionalized.. Each state/city office acts a little different in how they run the program.

what your lawyer is warning you about .. is this  with our portfolio of section 8 houses 95% of the tenants were unwed mothers with children

and multiple baby daddy's..  Its just a fact that when you have a single parent and 2 to 4 kids or more your house is going to take on more wear and tear.

then Section 8 has annual inspections and  you have to fix whatever they broke..  Don't fall for the ( they are afraid of losing their voucher) that is not reality

from my experience in some states you have to take the first acceptable applicant and cannot say NO section 8.  But in some areas of the country like the deep south Section 8 is a huge swath of the rental population and pays significantly more rent per month than market rent.  And once set up you do get the rent unless your tenant is kicked out of the program mid lease.

One thing that I do is make my fico score requirement over 700 .  this is a huge indicator on quality of tenant section 8 or not.. If I have a section 8 applicant with a true 700 plus fico then for me that would work no problem. takes a little longer to rent but that method has worked for us.