All Forum Posts by: Hannah White

Taking money Under the Table concurrently with taking money under a government contract---seems like a very scary problem if they find you.

And how much will your attorney fees be if they catch you, and how long might you go to jail for, and how much might they fine you.

Seems like a lot of risk.

Good Luck!

 I want you to keep a few things in mind when you read what I'm about to say: 

1) Not even 2 years ago I was as fresh as you are in the game.

2) I am a very cheap person when it comes to my own "doo-dads" and things I don't need...but I am not cheap when it comes to wealth building and investing in income producing assets.

3) While I am still fresh compared to most, I have sec 8 rentals that have been with PM from day 1.

With that being said, I'm going to give it to you straight: Everyone has their own team that works for them and that is fine, but I personally have never seemed to mesh with a RE agent when it comes to rental comps. I've always structured my team to have skin in the game from start to finish where you work with an agent/management operation so it is a constant and ongoing relationship. I've had on-point figures this way so it is worth a mention. 

Believe me, I completely understand your mindset when it comes to trying to save capital for the next investment opportunity(as I said in #2, I am cheap). However, if you pay a good PM as much as 10%/mo and achieve your target of $1,500 then you're only looking at $150/mo or $1,800/yr with the exception of leasing/renewal fees to include in there. I'm sorry but if that amount of capital makes or breaks your next move, things are probably too tight to make a move anyways. It is so easy to be a penny wise and a pound foolish. This pound is the opportunity cost of what you're going through right now that a PM would have not only handled but had someone in your property already. It is also the open door of legal issues you could be walking down.

I cannot emphasize enough how valuable good PM is on your team. They are a phenomenal resource to alleviate you of this exact stress and confusion. If you have a burning desire to self-manage or learn every intricacy of Sec8, at least hire them and learn from the professionals themselves. 

If you are confident in the evaluation of this property being in a class B neighborhood, I would try to avoid sec8 entirely because it may not exactly be necessary to find a strong tenant that qualifies. Maybe if it classifies more as a B- I would be more open to this, though, I don't know your specific market.

Refer to my #3 from earlier. I don't have some mega portfolio of sec8 making me the expert here but I wanted to mention this for one reason: I understand my time is more valuable and honestly, my lack of knowledge is a liability in this arena. Therefore, I would be posing a huge legal and financial risk by thinking I could do it all myself. That is why I never hesitated to have PM from the beginning. The cost of their services is more than fair for the amount of oversight and frontline tasks they engage in. 

You can't mess around on inspections with sec8 either. If you plan on doing that yourself be prepared to go through hoop after hoop to get a passing inspection. They won't approve anything until it meets their standards.

Essentially what I'm saying is this: Make the investment in PM when you know the least about simply anything, Stabilize what you have by surrounding yourself with a solid team(I would be toast already if I didn't do this myself), Don't let dollars and cents cost you thousands in both the short and long-term, and don't put extra liability directly in your hands if you don't understand how to handle it.

Read the HAP contract, it's a federal crime to commit fraud on a S8 lease. At the minimum you would be banned forever from the program.

A few things.  1 the time of year is bad.  You said university students are a large part of the tenant base but the best time to lease to them is late spring to mid summer.  If you don't go section 8 I would end the lease then and really spike rent if the tenant wants to go month to month to ensure turnover is in a better time.  

That might be the reason its taking a while.  Options would be lowering the price.  I think if it was priced even a little low it would sell.  Maybe the comps are close but in a slightly better area.  Or lease g was done in a better time.  Either way lowering 100 would not be that bad.  

If it is truly a B area I would not take section 8.  Section 8 usually is good for C grade areas. They can usually demand better than d grade but B grade means ability to get someone with 700 plus credit though it might not be as easy as A grade where you can just set up 1 open house and get them.  If you can get someone with 700 plus credit and 5x or 6x monthly  income over rent it should be smooth.  Id rather get that sort of person at 1400 then section 8 at 1500.  you can deny on credit btw to reject section 8.  There are a few places were woke stupidity has said you can't screen on credit.  SC is not 1 of them.  I'm sure landlord are really respecting that where its happening.  Lol. 

 Odd sec 8 pays more in my market. Also I understand you want to try and maximize your returns; but 100 bux a month is not going to affect it, if it does its not a good deal. You are not ready to go on your own. It can be very costly if you do not understand how it works. HIRE a PM co, learn then if you want fire them in 6 months or a year.  I have seen many ( here on BP) get crushed. They do not know how to evict, overpaying for repairs and more. Look you already wasted two weeks; time is money.  So how much will it cost if you do not do things correctly and sec8 abates your rent? Do you know what repairs are needed PRIOR to inspections? Do you know how difficult the inspectors can be? I have done 100s and 100s and 100s  of move ins withe Sec 8, and they still fail us for a door rubbing on the carpet, or those .50 little plastic caps that cover the screws that hold down the toilet.  HIRE a PM co, I have no dog in this, I am just trying to help. Oh, see if your area has a program called EDEN, we use them as well. They pay even more then sec 8 and they do inspections in a week and when it fails, they will come back out fast, unlike sec 8 , EDEN is much easier to work with, BUT SCREEN well. See your PM co would have known this (or they should) and it would be rented by now :) 

BTW I live in SC, HOWEVER I am a Gamecocks fan, so I can FINALLY say , sorry about Clemsons loss, well not really ,  LOL

All the best