Section 8 rental property

[Peighton Woodard]

My husband and I are looking into buying our first rental property. It currently has a Section 8 tenant for the next year. Does anyone have experience with Section 8 tentants that can give me some insight into it? Thanks so much!

[Brad Miller]

I have a ton of experience with section 8. I own 250 rentals and try to keep my rentals 70% HUD (section 8) and 30% cash. The pros are obviously the rent is deposited on the 3rd. You also have leverage over the tenant because if they don't pay their tenant portion and are evicted, they can lose their voucher. Believe me this is the last thing they want to do so they tend to pay. The negative is that they can run straight to HUD and complain if a repair isn't done or even if they perceive it and HUD has to do a complaint inspection which can be a headache. So the leverage works both ways. Also the rents we receive are higher than you can get renting to a cash paying tenant. The HUD voucher has a value and we always ask for the full amount. Don't always get the full amount but it comes close. You also get points for the amenities in the house such as ceiling fans, appliances, carpet, microwave, etc.... This is how you get higher rents. I'm in Mississippi and section 8 is pretty easy to deal with here.