Hey Gary! Here's my 2 cents on Section 8. I am speaking from experience in the Oklahoma City market so this could differ from where you're looking.
What I like:1. The government pays a portion or all of the rent. That’s a guaranteed payment every month. 2. If a section 8 tenant doesn’t pay they are at risk for losing their assistance. 3. I can’t speak for other states but Oklahoma is VERY landlord-friendly, even with section 8. If tenants don’t pay we are able to evict in ~45 days for under $500. 4. For 4 and 5 bedroom homes, the government is willing to pay higher than market rent rates for section 8 tenants. That said a tenant often pays a portion of their rent, so you must update cosmetics etc to make it worth the applicant's extra payment to you to actually get applicants at a higher rate. You also have to prove to section 8 that the property is worthy of higher payment. 5. We see section 8 tenants have longer stays at properties. It’s not across the board, but it is common.
What do be aware of: 1. Your first 3 months of rent payment will be delayed after you take over ownership. This is providing time for the agency to process the change in ownership in their end. You will be paid all back pay. 2. Your property manager should handle all correspondence/paperwork/leasing with section 8. No extra burden should come to you personally. 3. Once a property is qualified for section 8 it does not mean that you can ONLY lease to section 8 tenants. At turnover, you can market to section 8, non-section 8 in conjunction. Or if you no longer want to market to section 8 tenants, that’s fine 4. If you have a section 8 tenant in place, once a year section 8 requires an inspection and repair of anything they deem deficient. Your PM should schedule this and also schedule any repairs and ensure that you stay within the guidelines. The repair requests are sometimes a bit nitpicky, but if a section 8 tenant has been in place for some time we are very rarely surprised by what comes up on these requests. The requests are a bit more expensive if it’s the first time you’re getting approved by section 8.
The truth is that section 8 IS more work, but your PM should absorb that. I know of property managers that will advise against section 8 and I wonder how much of that comes from them wanting to avoid the process because they've not developed systems to effectively handle the process.