Landlords – Should Learn Advantages of Qualifying for Section 8

January 29th, 2010 | by Admin |

As a landlord, there are some advantages to qualifying for Section 8 Voucher holders. First of all, if you do not already know, then you should be aware that Section 8 Voucher holders find their own rental housing, using the vouchers they receive from their housing agency as rent assistance.

If you would like to rent to Section 8 Voucher holders, the first step to take is to get in touch with the Housing Authority in your area. You should let them know that your property is being made available, and you should also state in your advertising that you welcome Section 8 Voucher holders. It will be the decision of the voucher holder whether he/she rents your property. On the other hand, you may screen a voucher holder like you would screen and interview any other tenant you are considering renting your property to.

The rent you may charge must be reasonable when compared to other similar-sized units in your community. Your rent will be compared by the Section 8 Office to their payment standards, and these standards are partly based on fair market rents in your particular community, town or city. The rental you are asking for your property must be equal to or less than the fair market rents being paid in your area for modest properties the size of yours.

The single greatest benefit to being a Section 8 landlord is that you will have 60% to 70% of the rental your are asking covered by the government. The Section 8 tenant must pay 30% of the rental bill, while the government covers the rest. When they first rent an apartment, Section 8 tenants are not allowed to pay more than 40% of their income for Section 8 housing, but the government makes up the difference.

Depending on how much rent you are asking, the government may end up paying the entire rental bill, and you will not have to worry about collecting rent from your tenants. For example, if the rental payment standard in your area for comparable housing is $1,000 per month, and you are charging $700, the government might cover the entire amount since you are charging 30% less than the average, and that is how much the Section 8 tenant has to cover. However, this would also depend on the tenant’s monthly income and how much they can pay for rent.

The fact is that you will never have to worry about the government being late with the rent. The government will never leave town in the middle of the night without paying the rent you are due. There are landlords who even report that the tenants are not as likely to pay late as unsubsidized tenants because Section 8 tenants are afraid of losing their voucher.

By being a Section 8 landlord, you will also have a steady flow of tenants, and it will be highly unlikely that you property will sit unrented for a long period of time. That is because Housing Authorities usually have a waiting list of tenants who are looking to receive Section 8 rental subsidies.

Since there is a steady flow of tenants, it will reduce your vacancy rates, and you will have to worry less about finding people to occupy your rentals. Since you will be dealing with a housing authority with a waiting list of tenants, you will more than likely spend less on advertising, and you will improve your return on investment. Setting the business aspect aside for a moment, you can make it possible for a family that has perhaps been through some tough times to get safe, sanitary and decent housing, and sometimes you cannot measure personal satisfaction in monetary terms.

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