Question about potentially inheriting Section 8 tenants

[Brian H.]

Hey everyone,

So, I'm in the process of potentially purchasing a Triplex. Very exciting moment for me as this will be my first rental and I really hope that I could mostly stick to multifamily if not completely stick to multifamily. The numbers are good. I'm pretty excited about it at this point.

The main thing about this property is that it is Section 8. All of the tenants are Section 8 tenants. All of them have lived there for two plus years. I do like the fact that they are long-term tenants at this point. I mean I know they are not long long-term but they've been there for a few years and that's nice. But, I feel like it's a half and half depending on who I talk to about Section 8. Either they love it because of the guaranteed rent, or they hate it because there's all these stringent requirements and guidelines from the government and their inspectors when it comes to Section 8 properties. Plus the ones that don't like it seem to not generally enjoy the tenants that come along the Section 8, from what they told me. I have no experience with Section 8 so I have no idea. Can any of you here give me a little guidance?

Also, the other thing about this property is that the landlord includes Utilities in the rent. I don't personally like that. But he said that it was so that he knew that they were always having the heat running when it gets cold. He said he has had other properties where it is up to the tenants to make sure the gas is filled and whatnot and they won't get the gas filled and will just use space heaters which is dangerous and a fire hazard or they will just not let it get very warm and pipes will freeze and whatnot. I do know about the digital thermostats that allow you to set minimums where they cannot go any cooler but then how do I make sure they are actually getting the oil in the tank so that heat is running? I don't like the idea of paying the utilities myself. I kind of just want to collect rent from them and have them be adults and take care of everything else, but then maybe including utilities makes more sense?

Would love any input! Thank you all so much!