To Go Section 8 or Not

[Mitch Price]

Hello, Im debating on going Section 8 or not. I have a duplex that I am the owner occupant of currently. One side is rented out just fine, but Im thinking about putting the other side on Section 8. Ive been investing for afew years now so I heard the good, the bad, and the ugly about going Section 8. It was brought to my attention recently to considerate it as an option. Id love to hear from people who have or are using Section 8 for renting to tenants. Let me know what you like and dislike about it. Does it make sense for my situation?

[John Lamb]

@Mitch Price I just finished going through this whole process with a new tenant who is on Section 8. Your first step will be to list the property to the Section 8 community. You can do this at https://www.socialserve.com/login/ or https://www.gosection8.com/. Use the Go Section 8 website to also check the rent estimator so you can see what rent is going for in your neighborhood. It's a pretty nice feature.

When I listed my property on these websites, I had prospective tenants calling me within minutes. So to answer your question, it's your job to screen the tenants (Housing Authority encourages you to do this). I sent all the prospective tenants a rental application and told them the application cost for background check (don't do a credit check, as they won't have good credit). I then told all of then what time I would be at the property, and of all the applicants that called, only one showed up at the property. Make sure the tenant has their voucher and the Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) papers, which you complete as the landlord. You have to turn that packet in, along with an unsigned copy of the lease agreement to the housing authority. This process took about 1 week for approval, and after that is when the Housing Authority will reach out to you to schedule the inspection. It took a few days for the inspector to come out to the property, and he was in and out in 30 minutes. They are mainly looking for health and safety issues, and there should be a checklist on your cities housing authority website. I did have to fix a few items and text pictures to the inspector, but he passed me that same day. The tenant was then able to move in that same day and start collecting rent. I will say I'm still waiting to get my first rent payment from the actual Housing Authority, and they said that new applications can take up to 60 days to get processed. So you could be waiting a little while to get the pro-rated rent from the Housing Authority, but the tenant still has to pay you on time. 

From the time I first listed the property until the tenant moved in and paid rent and the security deposit was 2 weeks.