All Forum Posts by: Harry M.

Jon Klaus I've got a pretty strong hunch which town you're talking about. My wife went to high school there, and we still have family in the area. The town is growing like nuts, if it's the one I'm thinking about.

I've had one unit rented to a section 8 tenant for the last three years, so I'm certainly no expert, but I can share my experiences.
- Housing authority pays like clockwork. Direct deposit at midnight of the day rent is due.
- Inspections vary quite a bit by inspector. The first year we failed and had around $580 worth of mostly arbitrary stuff to address. Not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but a pain in the rear for sure. The second year it sailed through without a single thing being noted.
- Other than that the inspections the housing authority is completely hands off.
- The bigger percentage S8 pays the better. Every time we hear that our tenant is working again, my wife and I sigh and say "here we go again". Then a couple of months pass, tenant gets laid off, and S8 is back to paying 90% of the rent.
- Other than having to chase her a bit for her portion, our tenant is a good, decent person and keeps the property in good shape. So I'm sure this has colored our perceptions a bit towards renting to S8. I'm sure I would be singing a different tune if we had a bad S8 tenant. But then again, this is true of tenants in general.

To address your original question, we haven't had any problems with the city at all. But then, it's a solid blue collar neighborhood, and I believe the cities in those areas tend to be more down to earth as a rule. Where we live (a set from the Stepford Wives), I'm sure that the city would be finding that our grass was 1/8" too long or some such nonsense if we rented to S8!
-Harry

Hey Byron,
I've read J's book and it's the real deal. I highly recommend it.
It is written mostly with single family homes in mind, but at the very least it would give a starting good starting point for someone interested in rehabbing apartments.
Best of luck with your ventures.
-Harry

Ehren Williamson - I'm definitely seeing the same thing up here in the Dallas area. We finally got one under contract but it took 2+ months, 5 offers, a dozen plus viewings, and 65+ properties that initially made it onto my spreadsheet! Everything was going at at least a little over asking, with a lot of offers.
-Hary

Robyn Roberts

Virtual hug at ya! Conflicts are difficult.

Anyway, I agree with the sentiment of "winning the war, not the battle". It's already 6/15, school starts back up around 8/25, so to me the best way to win the war is to try to get him to move out quick so you have a shot at renting to the folks with kids wanting to move before the next school year starts.

Personally I'd approach it along the lines of "it sounds like there was a bit of a misunderstanding [don't acknowledge fault] with the PM, maybe we can chat and see if we can come up with something that works for both of us". I'd keep going along those lines until the situation is diffused, and everyone is chilled out. Then from there, it's a straight trade - I give you something you want (break the lease w/ no penalties), and in return you agree to move out quickly.

Anyway, good luck! I hope it works out quickly and as painlessly as possible for you guys.

-Harry

I like Rob K's way of describing it.
My code red is family reserve plus 6 months PITI per property, code green is family reserve plus 6 months PITI plus downpayment and fixup for the next one. Green right now as we're waiting to close on one right now.

Deborah B. - Wow! Way to go. $5K of rents on a 176k purchase is amazing. Congrats!
-Harry

Gary West - thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you found the info helpful.
-H

That's an absolute classic! I don't think anyone is going to have a wierder one than that.
All my tenant requests have been ordinary stuff, nothing unusual at all. Yet, that is.

About 60-65%. We've tried 75% and hit it one or two months over the last few years, but in our opinion it isn't worth it. There is a huge difference between 65 and 75%. At 65%, we just go about our happy ways and don't worry about money too much (given, we've got a few good habits baked in), at 75% we were literally worrying about every penny. It started to feel like trading out quality of life now for quality of life in the future. It's important to find a balance - something you can maintain year in and year out without going crazy, and for us 65% is it.
-H