All Forum Posts by: Andrew Michael

I have not placed a Section 8 tenant in PG but I have in neighboring counties.  Here are the basic steps that I went through.

1)  Landlord will fill out Section 8 application and get property approved by housing authority.  They will collect general information about your property and qualify you for a particular voucher amount based on location, rent amount, type of property, number or rooms, market competition, etc  The application is of no cost to the landlord.  

2)  Once approved, your property will go through an inspection process.  They will send the inspection results back to the landlord with a list of items they want changed, fixed and updated.

4)  After everything on their list has been addressed, they will come back and do a re-inspection.  This cycle continues until your property fulfills all of their requirements and regulations.  The inspections are of no cost to the landlord (other than the out of pocket repairs made to unit).

5) After the above is taken care of you can begin vetting section 8 applicants who have the appropriate voucher amount to rent your property. 

I would suggest you submit your own lease agreement for the potential tenant and housing authority to sign and approve.  In addition I would ask each applicant if they already have their landlord packet ready as this is a huge time saver.  Each section 8 participant needs a landlord packet in order to know their voucher amount and be eligible for the program.  Due to the paper work and appointments needed to get this done the process can sometimes take a few weeks or even months. 

Once all of this is complete and you have accepted a tenant, you will get a direct deposit into your bank from the housing authority and the difference will be paid by your tenant.

For example, if you are renting your unit for $1000 and your tenant has a voucher for $800 the tenant will need to pay $200 a month out of pocket.

Housing Pays $800

Tenant pays $200

Total Rent = $1000

Lastly, make sure to still do your due diligence when screening section 8 tenants.  Just because they have been accepted into the program does not mean they have been screened thoroughly and would make good tenants.  Many of the are great renters but there are also trouble tenants as well.  Screen them as you would anyone else.

Below is a link to the PG housing website.  Hope this helps!

http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/sites/Housing...

Give some more details.  What part of MD, type of property, potential return on investment, some rough estimates, etc.  

@Dan Lieberman Thanks for your response.  The tenant that has been there for 30+ years is the one that is killing me.  I am such a sucker and don't want to kick her out of what she calls "home" as I do not think she can afford too much more.  She is paying 340 for a two bedroom where the market rate is 775-850 depending on amenities.  Now as you said since her unit is a bit dated its not going to fetch top dollar but I have been in there several times and its still nice.  The original hardwood floors are in great condition, the windows are only a few years old, etc Everything is fine except the wood paneling walls and that off yellow appliance line that was before my time :)  The land lord took exceptional care of the building and she takes great care of the unit.

Anyways I will speak with her and see what we can work out.  If she is my only discount tenant after the raises then I can live with that.  

I appreciate your time and advice!

@Mindy Jensen Tons of great ideas, thanks so much.  I love the idea or using the already planned upgrades as a bargaining chip/ justification.  One of the units needs a bit of work as it has not been updated since the 70's when the building was built.  That is the unit with the long term renters who have lived there for 30+ years.  The rest of the units are very minor cosmetic fixes, typical of any unit turnover.  

If rents stay as they are the building does cash flow but not at the percentages I usually aim for.  Once rents are brought up to market value I will feel more comfortable.  As for the demand in the area, there is a waiting list for the majority of landlords I have spoke to.  There are 5 colleges with in 30 mins and a solid job market so I am confident I can get them filled sooner than later.  

Hi all,

I am set to close on my first small apartment building next week (7 Units).  The current owner is about 50% under current market rent rates.  This confirmed by the appraisal report, local realtors, and my own DD and research.  The current tenants are all on month to month leases so that is the good news, if anyone moves out this is an obvious non issue.  The challenge is that some of the tenants have been there for several years and have never been late with payment.  This is a challenge because morally it seems wrong to walk in and double rents right away especially when a tenant has such a good history. 

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar situation and how they handled increasing rents on long term tenants.  I am thinking bringing them up to market rates over the course of a few years.  Is that too long, too short?  What are some strategies you have used to keep tenants happy in the midst of owner/ financial changes?  

This is particularly important to me for two reasons.  First I want to be fair and ethical.  Second, I have several other properties in the immediate area I am going to make offers on and thus do not want to build a negative local reputation.

Thanks in advance for ideas and feedback!

Just to clarify,

What is it that you are bringing to the table here?  Are you finding the deals or bringing money to the table?  Just trying to understand your position so perhaps I can give a better answer.  

Thanks!    

If you find a good deal you will have more buyers than you know what to do with.  Find deals and the buyers will come, I promise.        

Next time you find a good deal present the numbers and terms on BP and at your local REI club. If the numbers work you will have no problem finding the cash. People are quick to invest when a good opportunity presents itself.

Hey I ran into this same situation on my last direct mail campaign and its happening again currently.  Depending on the amount of land and its desirability I am sure there are many answers to your question.  Here is what I did though.  Since I have no land development experience or connections I teamed up with a broker who specialized in large multifamily projects/ land development.  They have all the connections to end buyers (developers).  They basically did all the due diligence, underwriting, feasibility studies, etc and then shopped out the property to a list of their clients they new would be interested.  Since I had little knowledge of development and added little value to the deal itself, I asked for a very small percentage of their commission and the chance to be included on emails, phone calls and meetings when applicable.  Basically I wrote it off as an exchange for education.  I think its well worth it to try something like this knowing you will have more land deals with each direct mail campaign.  

PM me I have a contractor I have used in Baltimore.