I am a newbie trying to get a home in Baltimore and do cosmetic renovation on it after which I plan on renting it out to a section8 (housing voucher) renter. Does anybody know what the process entails. I need complete information on the process.
Why not call your local Section 8 office. They should be able to guide you through it. Basically, you need to schedule an inspection. If it passes, then you are ready to rent it to a Section 8 approved tenant. Your local office may even have a place for you to market your newly approved section 8 housing.
thank you very much for your reply, I take it that you have property on section8.what are the pros and cons of day to day property management of such a tenant?
Along with the pros and cons of any type of rental, Section 8 rentals are as follows, IMHO:
Pros:
- government pays your rent on time
- tenant will not want to lose their sec 8 voucher so hopefully have slightly higher incentive not to get evicted or to piss you off
- if you find a truly good tenant, who is humble and accepting of section 8 assistance because maybe they are in a bad luck streak or whatever, they can be the greatest tenants and really take care of your place
- lower turn-over, as they tend to be long-term tenants
- at least you get some of your tax dollars back in the form of rent
Cons:
- extra hassle of Sec. 8 process
- annual Sec 8 inspection (although this could be a pro, because it will force landlords to keep it maintained, and thus possibly have a happier tenant)
- typically, you get low credit tenants; tenants who don’t have a high credit score to protect have less to lose and slightly higher probability to not think twice about trashing your place
Thank you very much I have one more question in regards to section8 tenants. What criterias does one use to screen the section8 tenants themsleve? As in what to check in their credit, male or female or other classifications of the tenants that can help one secure a real good tenant.
You should follow te same screening rules/criteria that you would for any tenant (and gender is NOT one of those criteria)…you should probably review the federal criteria (non-discriminatory criteria) about tenant selection!
Keith
When I said gender, I meant no offence it is just that most landlords have come accross tend to prefer female tenants because the seem to take better care of the property.