All Forum Posts by: Amanda Bruneau

@Zach Lemaster thank you for your reply! Where in Florida have you been investing? I live in RI now, but grew up in Florida and have always known it is a good place to buy because housing prices are much lower and it is a landlord-friendly state. I have really only focused my efforts in RI and MA, but want to venture out and I do think FL would be a great option. 

What is the best way to find off-market deals right now? Any suggestions? 

I love the idea of buying rental properties in a more landlord-friendly area, but the idea of managing a rental property from afar is terrifying. I would love to hear people's experiences with doing this and how it has worked for them. Thank you!

@Dominic Kosteris my one experience with section 8 was not with a minority family. It was just a family that choose to take advantage of me and the system. 

@Alex T. ouch! It sounds like you have had a tough time! Where are you renting in MA? When you are doing the screening process now are you able to weed out people that you think would be a problem or are you just trying to stay away from section 8 altogether?  I recently moved to RI and they do not currently have a law that says you have to rent to section 8, BUT they are voting to make it a law! It is actually happening right now, they are trying to take away many rights of the landlord and it is so discouraging. We are fighting it, but I don't know the outcome yet. Below is what they are trying to pass. 

@Jay Hinrichs that would be interesting data to collect and I would bet money it is about 85%-90% of women collecting because the voucher is typically for people with children and government doesn't give the voucher (typically) to married couples. 

@Alex T. my bad experience was also in MA. Have you ever had a positive experience with section 8? 

I think you have to find the right agent that can meet your needs and demands. I am an agent in RI and I specialize in working with investors because I am an investor myself as I can speak their language and I love helping people finds deals and walking them through the process. However, many agents are not interested in investing and they may not even own a home themselves. Interviewing multiple agents will be worth your while AND even more importantly no one is going to know everything, but if they are a good agent they will say "let me get back to you on that, I am not exactly sure" and they will follow through and find the answer. This in my opinion is just as important as knowing everything, it shows you they care and are willing to go the extra mile to learn something new to support you and your buying needs. 

I have rented to section 8 once and unfortunately, it was not a good experience. They did cause significant damage to my house and when we tried to keep their security deposit to pay for the damage they threaten me and my family. In the end, we just gave them their security deposit back because we wanted them out of our life and feared for what they were capable of doing to us and our property. BUT and there is a big BUT, we did not properly screen them and that was our fault (we were new at being landlords). We never met the boyfriend before they moved in because he wasn't on the lease so we didn't realize he would be a permanent resident. He had a criminal record a mile long. We learned a very valuable lesson which was you have to do a background check on everyone living in house. I would be open to renting to section 8 again in the future, but the background check, credit report, references from prior residents have to be checked and rechecked, just like every other applicant!

I think you have to find the right agent that can meet your needs and demands. I am an agent in RI and I specialize in working with investors because I am an investor myself as I can speak their language and I love helping people finds deals and walking them through the process. However, many agents are not interested in investing and they may not even own a home themselves. Interviewing multiple agents will be worth your while AND even more importantly no one is going to know everything, but if they are a good agent they will say "let me get back to you on that, I am not exactly sure" and they will follow through and find the answer. This in my opinion is just as important as knowing everything, it shows you they care and are willing to go the extra mile to learn something new to support you and your buying needs.