Section8 vs. traditional rent

[Nick N.]

I bought a house in a C/D neighborhood(St Pete, FL) that does bring in a good rental rate. However the tenant that was in there when purchased is absolutely terrible. They are months behind so we are evicting. This was a good buy but terrible experience with the tenant. 

Once they are gone I'm trying to determine whether or not to apply for Section 8 for this house or rent it traditionally. 

I was wondering what your experiences have been? Positives and negatives to using Section8. I like the security of the funds coming in w/ section8, but have no experience with it. 

Any feedback is appreciated!

[Lecia Montague]

I used to accept Section 8 but from my experience, it is not worth the headache. The tenant normally has to pay a very small portion of the rent and the Housing Authority pays the remainder. If the tenant is only paying a small fee for their portion of the rent, they don't really have an incentive to care for the property. I've had several experiences in which the tenant caused thousands of dollars in damages. Even if you inspect the property quarterly, after the damage is done, they will likely not have the money to fix the damage which puts you at risk for abatement. This means that if your unit does not pass the Housing Authorities annual inspection, they will abate your rent until all repairs are made. The quality of the tenants and the headache of dealing with the annual Housing Authority inspections was not worth it to me. I don't accept Section 8 at any of my properties now. The market rate tenants take much better care of my properties because they have more 'skin in the game'.