Ok so it seems EVERYONE is making renting to sec 8 MUCH more complicated than it needs to be, not sure why. Maybe some guru is selling courses and telling everyone it is. Well, it's not. So here are answer to most of the questions I am seeing.
Screen EXACTLY as you would for any tenant.
When buying a prop, with a tenant already in, YES, get a copy of the HAP, agreement and lease, Call the office and make sure all is in order, DO NOT trust the seller.
YES, the SD will come to you, if not, NOT your problem, Tell the tenant previous owner never gave to me.
YES, you WILL fail your inspection, so what, everyone does. They will provide you with a list of items, do them. You have 30 days (in most states)
NO NEVER supply appliances (OH you do not have to) Why? When they break its your problem, when the tenant brings their own, yep, it's their problem.
If they do not pay their portion (if they have one) you say, " hey you are breaking the rules of your program, if you do not pay you will " lose your free ride ". watch how fast they pay. If not, evict, the same way you evict any tenant.
NO, you do not determine how much sec 8 is going to pay, it's based on the FMR and in some cases they pay more.
If the tenant is not allowing access to do a repair (NEVER in 10 years has this happened to me) you put a 24 notice on the door and go in. ITS YOUR house not theirs. If they still give you a hard time, (not sure why they would make no sense) turn on your phone and record it. Tell them you are calling the office, and they just may lose their free ride. Watch how fast they accommodate you. Folks its ALL about wording, Be tough but polite.
Rent amount, they pay the FMR, and is some cases more. If you get a rent increase and the tenants portion goes up a little and they complain, say oh well you can leave, but the new place will have the same rent amount. So, suck it up and pay the extra X or move to a lower " class" area where the FMR will be lower. Either way I am getting the rent increase.
Best sites to market your property, the Sec 8 site.
Last, you rent to them the same exact way you rent to anyone, just more paperwork.
Folks stop making it more difficult than it needs to be, buy right, Reno right, rent right, exactly how you would with any tenant.
I hope my suggestions help good luck to all.
