Dealing with Section 8 Tenants

[Anthony Sanzari]

I have received an application from someone who gets section 8 vouchers. The rent will be guaranteed so It's an option I am highly considering but I do not know much about it. I have heard some horror stories about section 8 tenants. Any advise/input would be greatly appreciated.

[James Wise]

Quote from @Anthony Sanzari:

I have received an application from someone who gets section 8 vouchers. The rent will be guaranteed so It's an option I am highly considering but I do not know much about it. I have heard some horror stories about section 8 tenants. Any advise/input would be greatly appreciated.

 I've made millions in the Section 8 space. The money is great and it comes in on time every single month. However, you need to understand that a large portion of Section 8 tenants are complete animals. They will be very rough on your property. You're probably going to have to deal with a slew of unauthorized boyfriends with a pension for punching holes in your drywall. Unauthorized pets which are almost always going to be a huge problem for your insurance company because 9 times out of 10 they are gonna be Pitbulls. Additionally, your insurance company is already gonna be salty with you because of all the unauthorized swimming pools your tenants got. Beyond that you've got constant fighting with the neighbors, layers of nicotine caked onto your walls, constant complaining, broken windows, no batteries in your smoke detectors, and a yearly Section 8 inspection that requires you to pay to fix a whole bunch of tenant caused damages. If you can deal with all of that, like I said, the money is great.

Here is the big thing, a lot of investors read what I wrote above and go, "screw this, I ain't about that Section 8 life." That's all well and good to want to avoid the Section 8 life, but you've got to understand that you better not be buying a rental property in a low income area then. Because if you've got yourself a rental in a low income area, the above is the type of tenant base you're dealing with whether they are on Section 8 or not. The only difference being the tenants who do have Section 8 have guaranteed rent coming to you while the ones who don't are going to add the massive problem of constantly stealing money from you, which obviously adds the need for constant evictions to be added to that mix of loveliness.