New to Section 8

[Dee Mandrekar]

Hello BP Experts

I have never considered renting out to Section 8 Tenants but now am thinking to do so. Have few questions so pls help me understand it.

1. I have been always doing the paperwork for my tenants till now and never used a realtor. Do I need to use a Realtor for renting out to Section 8 tenants so I dont end up with any issues? Can I still use the same lease document which I used for my other tenants till now?(my lease I purchased from BP)

2. I have listed my property on Zillow with rent of $2700 but I see that for 4 bedroom houses the section 8 gets closer to $4k from the government. Who decides the rent?

3. How long does it take to get the tenant to move in once they decide that they like the house?

4. what all more is involved with Section 8 tenant than a normal tenant moving in from paperwork or procedure point of view?

Thanks for your help here. My property is in Denton County in Texas.

[Patrick Drury]

@Dee Mandrekar

1- You would want to get a property manager, not a realtor for something like this. 

2- The housing authority decides the rents in the area. For example, in Columbus, we have CMHA the Columbus metropolitan housing authority. They list the rents based on bedroom count on their website

3- This depends on the housing authority. For the tenant to be able to move in you need to 
-Go back and forth and fill out HAP contract and get it approved by CMHA 
-Get the property inspected and pass(if you fail redo this step)
-execute the leases then the tenant can move in 

* Important note (you won't start receiving payments from CMHA till like a month or 2 later after you execute the lease. They will backdate it to the date the property passed the inspection. This is how they do it in Columbus, but I would check with your local housing authority to see if they do it the same way or something different 


 
4 - what all more is involved with Section 8 tenant than a normal tenant moving in from paperwork or procedure point of view?
refer to number 3 above