3 ms·

I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I converted all my units to luxury units, and have had far far fewer tenant problems after the renovations and rate incr

I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I converted all my units to luxury units, and have had far far fewer tenant problems after the renovations and rate increases. High paid tenants seldom miss payment - I've setup automatic EFT withdrawal from their accounts, so I don't even need to process checks, and they aren't really impacted by the rise in unemployment right now - most just work from home. I think the bitter spot for being a landlord (especially now) is to manage low-mid income units. ...it's just a constant stream of problems - people moving in and out - single mom's that chronically cannot afford the rent - unregistered tenants - people that refuse to pay and refuse to move out - drug and police raids... like it was a total total nightmare. Managing 12 low-mid income apartments was a full-time nightmare. Managing 12 high income lux units now takes about 4 hours every other weekend and is usually a pleasure to do.

taylodl 6y ago
My wife discovered the same thing. You either want to manage section 8 housing or you want higher-income housing. Once you know the system and the case workers it's easy to deal with bad section 8 tenants. It takes a while to learn the ropes, though. The higher-end tenants are generally easy to work with as you mention. The problem now is that's where all the property managers are wanting to go!
- bilbo0s 6y ago
  Just for my own edification, is the problem market size? Is it the case that most people are in the middle, with not enough section 8 and luxury qualified people to go around? In my naiveté, I thought that there would be more section 8 people. (Of course, I also thought they would be worse than the middle income people. So I guess that shows how much I know about it.) Anyway, if the majority of the market are those low-mid people, I mean, that's a problem. I was under the impression that those people normally bought houses they couldn't afford and so didn't negatively impact the rental market that much. (Again, maybe just a stereotype I had?)
  - taylodl 6y ago
    Is it the case that most people are in the middle, with not enough section 8 and luxury qualified people to go around? Exactly. Section 8 is difficult to get as there is a fixed allotment of housing available and it can take years to get your voucher. The other thing that's surprising is how many people are renting their homes. My own naiveté had me believing renters lived in apartments. Not even close! Most renters live in houses in regular neighborhoods from the low-end to the high-end. There are higher-end neighborhoods near where I live where 20%-30% of the houses are being rented, not mortgaged. In lower-end neighborhoods the percentages are much higher. That was before the 2008 housing crises, the percentages have increased since.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

taylodl 6y ago

My wife discovered the same thing. You either want to manage section 8 housing or you want higher-income housing. Once you know the system and the case workers it's easy to deal with bad section 8 tenants. It takes a while to learn the ropes, though. The higher-end tenants are generally easy to work with as you mention. The problem now is that's where all the property managers are wanting to go!

bilbo0s 6y ago
Just for my own edification, is the problem market size? Is it the case that most people are in the middle, with not enough section 8 and luxury qualified people to go around? In my naiveté, I thought that there would be more section 8 people. (Of course, I also thought they would be worse than the middle income people. So I guess that shows how much I know about it.) Anyway, if the majority of the market are those low-mid people, I mean, that's a problem. I was under the impression that those people normally bought houses they couldn't afford and so didn't negatively impact the rental market that much. (Again, maybe just a stereotype I had?)
- taylodl 6y ago
  Is it the case that most people are in the middle, with not enough section 8 and luxury qualified people to go around? Exactly. Section 8 is difficult to get as there is a fixed allotment of housing available and it can take years to get your voucher. The other thing that's surprising is how many people are renting their homes. My own naiveté had me believing renters lived in apartments. Not even close! Most renters live in houses in regular neighborhoods from the low-end to the high-end. There are higher-end neighborhoods near where I live where 20%-30% of the houses are being rented, not mortgaged. In lower-end neighborhoods the percentages are much higher. That was before the 2008 housing crises, the percentages have increased since.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]