All Forum Posts by: Isaac El

@Isaac El, I would be hesitant to say that you're ever guaranteed to get a tenant in any situation.  Specific to this question, people with Housing Choice Vouchers ("Section 8 tenants") get to pick their own housing, s it will be up to the individual tenant to choose your place.

What I will say is this - in my area and from what I hear in many places around the country, the demand for Section 8 housing far exceeds the supply so it is extremely easy to find Section 8 tenants.  

@Isaac El  A good place to start is to call the Housing Authority and see if they have tenants looking for specifications that fit your property.  For example, if your rental is a 3 bedrooms, see what the rates are for that zip code for a tenant with a 3 bedroom voucher, and let the receptionist know the address so the case workers can pass it on to their clients.  If I have a property that will take Section 8, I post it on gosection8.com.  It's usually rented in less than 2 days. 

@Jennifer Donley is certainly the expert, with great advice. I would just add some market considerations, such as distance to public transportation. Many times people who need Section 8 assistance cannot afford a vehicle and insurance.  If your property is within easy walking distance of public transportation, you will have a larger pool of applicants to choose among.

@Isaac El, you can do it anywhere.  Section 8 is a federally funded program administered locally by a Public Housing Authority, so you may have different Public Housing Authorities to deal with depending on where you're at (I have 2 here in St. Louis that I work with, for instance).  

While the general structure and rules are the same nationally, each PHA will have their own little differences, particularly when it comes to setting rents, timing for rent increase requests, and inspection frequency and difficulty.

It is not against federal housing laws not to take Section 8 but it can be against it not to based on a state or city law (in these cases, it is usually against the law to not take Section 8 AND it's against the law to do what I do, which is only take Section 8 because you can't discriminate based on "source of income").  

As mentioned above, Section 8 rents are usually in line with market rents in B, C and D areas. They can even be a little above market rents, particularly in C and D areas. However, they will generally be below market rents in A areas because there is a ceiling on the amount that HUD will pay in rent, determined by your area's Fair Market Rent.

A lot of people end up hating Section 8 because they don't execute on it as well as they could.  It takes meticulous tenant screening (which I would do anyway), solid processes & attention to detail to do well.  I think it's worth it given the guaranteed rent and stability that it provides but it's not for everyone.

Also, there are great Section 8 tenants out there so my approach is to provide one of the nicest properties in the neighborhood - that way I attract a large number of applicants quickly and I can then pick the top one to live in my property.

Sec 8 is a voucher that a person needs to apply for.  They can apply anywhere that will accept them and if they can afford the rent.  In some places, you can't discriminate against a Sec 8 as a source of income (like Portland).  MOst places (in Oregon) have housing authorities that administer these for their territories.

You just advertise your apartment for rent and see who applies.  Sec 8 is not going to get you more rent (however, on the Sec 8 part you'll get a ETF on the 1st.)  Also, in most cases, Sec 8 won't pay the whole rent and the tenant makes a co-pay if they have any income at all.

@Isaac El Looks like they’re extending it. Any insight for $ for tenants who are behind on rent? I’m reading 25 billion for tenants. How will they know the tenants are going to use it to pay rent?

@Isaac El

I'm in Newark Nj not to far from you in NY and both of our Governors are doing a lot of the same things.  I think the moratorium will be extended 1 more month through January and II'm hoping it ends at that point.  With that said we will be able to get in front of a Judge sometime in April.  A lot of landlords really hurting right now.

@Isaac El once it TRULY expires, I feel like a lot of credit scores will take a big hit and there will be a lot of surprised people who thought they wouldn’t have to pay anything back.