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Well, first of all, it is easy to share intimate details of one's life with people you will most likely never meet! Second of all, around here Section 8 tenants have a bad reputation. I am not sure if it is like that everywhere, but I think it is very important for landlords to know that "the system" can and does work! Not all of us stay on section 8 our whole lives and not better ourselves when we are able to! :D

Where I live you can buy a duplex in the nicer part of town for around 100k, and a 5 apartment building just sold in the not-so-nice part of town for 22k. just depends on where you live I suppose. I am in Ohio.

They mailed the rent to the landlord and the additional check to me. I heard about section 8 through a Domestic violence group. I was working with a non-profit and they had helped me out for a few days. I had nowhere to go, and with autistic twins, I was havng a hard time finding a place to stay. It was actually hard to get someone to rent to me. My kids are very, very well behaved, but just because they do not act like all other children, people would get freaked out about renting us their house/apartment. Anyway, we lived in a hotel for a few weeks, and got on the section 8 waiting list. Then I found an apartment for $300 a month! After 5-6 months we made it to the top of the waiting list on Section 8! Thank goodness. That was the start of us actually getting somewhere.

Hi everybody! I am nikki from Ohio. I have been almost obsessed with Real Estate since I can remember. Some of my first memories are of helping my grandparents rehab houses they bought at auction. My first job out of high school was working as an assistant for one of the top real estate agents in the country. I loved every minute.

Then I got married, had a set of twins, got divorced, lost my house in the divorce (not a forclosure, but the ex got it) and put myself through college. That is the short version. I am now a mid-twenties single mom with a set of autistic twins. I have a good job, and I have been renting for the past five years. I graduated in June, and I am looking to buy a home. I have been looking at REOs. I figure I need a house of my own before I can become a landlord!

I am smart, quick to learn, and I know how to do a lot of rehab work on my own. But I have a family that does nothing but tell me that buying a house of my own is a mistake, and that buying investment properties is a huge mistake. I know this market. I know this market extremely well. I wake up every morning and check the MLS, county auditor's website, REO listings, auction listings, etc. I can tell you about every neighborhood in this city, what is moving, what is not, etc. I would like to be able to eventually teach my boys how to do this, so when they are older they can take care of themselves.

My big problem seems to be finding a house for myself. Once I have that, I will be fine with finding other properties. But I want a bargain. Something I can put sweat equity into, in a nice neighborhood for my boys. Has anyone else had this problem? It is the emotional factor.

Also, the whole REO thing really does confuse me. There seems to be huge discrepancies between what various agents, friends, etc. tell me. Sometimes the MLS lists a VERY different price than the REO website I look at. I have read lots of books, and looked up lots online, but nothing seems to address this.

For instance: One property I am looking at is a 3/1 with a full finished basement. Nice neighborhood. Listed in MLS at 89,000, listed in REO at 57,600. That is a big difference!

Anyway, all of your input is greatly appreciated, and I LOVE that there is a website like this. It is amazing and very helpful. Thanks again, and I look forward to reading and writing lots more!

I did not have to pay 30% of the rent. They based it off of what I made at the time, which was very little. When I started out on section 8 I paid none of the monthly rent, and I got back a check every month to help out with utilities. It was very little, but back then every bit helped! They have a formula they use to get an "adjusted income" based on how many kids you have, etc. My adjusted income ended up 0! They do not tell you the formula, so that people cannot "work the system." But they act like it is very complicated. (I highly doubt it.)

As I progressed in my life, things started shifting. Eventually (two years) I got completely off of section 8, and now I am looking to buy my own properties! But any questions people have about the other side of Sec 8, I will be happy to answer!

So you got the lender that owned the property to actually finance it as well? I had heard that was a myth! How did you manage that?

I have read many many posts on this website, learning all sorts of things, but I am still a little confused. Some people say they offer 60-70%, some swear that Banks won't even consider 90%. So I have no idea. Also, I have been using a website called Bankhomesdirect.com which is really good in some respects to finding properties, but I am finding that the prices they list are often lower than what the MLS has listed. I have found a property that I love, that I am very interested in, but the MLS price is about 10,000 higher than the price on bankhomesdirect.com, and I think a reasonable price considering the work that need to be done is still a lot lower. I actually may end up offering about 50% of the MLS price along with estimates of the work that would need to be done, and go for a FHA 203k. I have no idea if they'll accept the offer or not, but the property has been sitting for quite a long time now. If they don't accept it, I'll just walk away and start looking for the next one. Anyway... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I was a Section 8 Voucher tenant for 3 years while I worked my way through college, and I rented a single family house. I live in a somewhat poor community, and a lot of people are on Section 8, and there are tons of single family homes for rent that qualify for Section 8. So unless it varies that much from state to state, you definitely can.

I am brand new to investing in real estate, although I have a background of working in the industry. I am very glad I found this sight, and I have learned a lot of new information, but my question is this: Are REOs worth it? On this forum, it seems like you guys are saying they aren't that great of a deal. Yet I am assuming most of you deal with them? I am just confused about the seemingly negative attitudes toward them. I have found several in my town that I am very interested in, and I am mostly confused about how much I should offer. I don't want to offer too much when I could have gotten a property for much less. But in searching for an answer to this, I have almost been talked out of REOs altogether. Are they really not a great deal?