Section 8 and Changing Rental Listing

[Ragnar Lothbrok]

Greeting all,

I just posted my first rental last week (woo hoo!) it has been coarse, trying to find exactly where the rent should be. We want to maximize the rent, while still getting a sufficient pool of applicants to choose from. Like trying to figure how much to butter your popcorn.

Currently, we have plenty of people calling in to schedule a viewing, about 4-8 a day. However, the rental is in a bit of an urbanized environment which all applicants cannot fit our income or credit requirements. Basically, potential tenants are either asking if we take section 8, or they should already probably be on section 8 program before applying.

Question for the wise people of this forum: Can I change my listing to accept section 8 after I have already accepted (soon to be denied) application? If able to change to section 8, I can raise the rent substantially, would that be an issue either? How long does the section 8-ing process take typically?

Thanks in advance for any advice and guidance. Have a great day.

[Patti Robertson]

Hi.  If you haven't already signed a lease, you can change anything you want!  Just change your ads to say SEC 8 OK. If someone doesn't already have a voucher and their Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA - IE - Landlord Packet), don't waste time showing them the property.  You can't do anything to move forward with SEC 8 unless they have that. The amount of time depends on how slow your local housing authority is.  In my market the fastest I can get someone moved in after turning in the paperwork is 20 days, and most often it is closer to 30.  I have much more to share, but it is alot to type.  To save myself typing time, I wrote a blog on this topic.  You can find it by clicking on my profile.