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> I'm paraphrasing but basically to be eligible for Section 8 housing you can't have too many assets. Good financial planning would say to scrimp and save so th

> I'm paraphrasing but basically to be eligible for Section 8 housing you can't have too many assets. Good financial planning would say to scrimp and save so that you can get make a downpayment to get a mortgage but you'll be kicked out of the section 8 housing long before you've saved enough to get out yourself. The progression would be Section 8 -> Renting -> Home Ownership The purpose of programs like Section 8 isn't to subsidize people while they save up to purchase expensive assets and leapfrog past non-subsidized renters. It's to backstop people who couldn't afford normal rents.

gunfighthacksaw 4y ago
How long should one rent for in this hypothetical situation? Could a section 8 resident buy a house, and pay for a 1 month short term rental in the interim and meet your criteria? 6 mo? A year?
- willcipriano 4y ago
  How long are the people paying their own way renting?
- sokoloff 4y ago
  If the government is going to pay or subsidize rent for someone, I’m ok with there being a requirement that such support is needed by that recipient. If the recipient later happens to win the lottery, I’d expect them to move directly from Section 8 housing to a mansion, no waiting period needed nor desired.
- Thorrez 4y ago
  I don't think PragmaticPulp is saying anything about requiring people to rent before getting a house. Just that the purpose of section 8 housing is to help people who can't afford rents. If someone is saving for a house, I think that's a sign that that person can afford rents, and therefore isn't the target for section 8 housing.
- PragmaticPulp 4y ago
  That’s not what I’m saying at all. Buying a house requires signrifajt savings for a down payment, moving costs, and so on. Subsidized housing isn’t meant to help people build up savings and accumulate possibly six figure savings to buy a house. Subsidized housing is meant to prevent people who can’t afford rent from becoming homeless. If a subsidized housing program is structured in such a way that it’s a net financial win to be on it than to be self-sufficient (e.g. renting on your own) then it becomes a “trap” as you penalize anyone trying to escape it and you incentivize people near the threshold to stay below it. If someone wins the lottery or gets a new job with a huge signing bonus or gets a huge inheritance then by all means go buy a house right away and skip the renting step. However, we need to revoke their place in the subsidized housing program as soon as they can afford to be off of it. I think people in this thread are forgetting that subsidized housing is a very limited resource and therefore we need to focus it on the people who need it most. Leaving people in the program who are accumulating six-figure house down payments from the savings would suggest that they don’t actually need the program but are taking the place of someone else who does need the help.
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    > I think people in this thread are forgetting that subsidized housing is a very limited resource and therefore we need to focus it on the people who need it most. I think it’s more that the supply of subsidized housing is so low that it’s literally only people in the worst kinds of situations that qualify. Obviously someone saving for a 100k down payment doesn’t need it, but there’s a whole sea of people in between that have no options now. Rent is too expensive, and subsidized housing is unavailable (only goes to the people that need it most). Ergo, I’m stuck in my parents’ house until I die, unless I want to pay extortionate rent for a shitty apartment. Meanwhile, the people that do get subsidized housing suddenly have both a nice house and a lot of ability to save. I can totally see how that breeds resentment. I’ve heard it said that the best way to get a house would be to have kids, divorce, and then become a single mother. Which doesn’t seem to be too far from the truth.
aqme28 4y ago
You typically need ~3 months of rent on hand to get a new apartment. That can be a really large amount of money for people on assistance
- thallium205 4y ago
  There are month to month rentals available today that don't require the down payment requirements of a year lease.
  - xnyan 4y ago
    A mini rant - short term residential rentals are the housing equivalent of payday lending in finance - a market that exists by extorting impoverished people. I was an electrician’s apprentice in college and did work for countless rental properties of all levels of quality. Short terms are built in the cheapest possible area at the lowest level of quality that’s legally allowed, and often not even meeting that low standard. On top of all of this, the cost is outrageous. A one bedroom in a short term was typically 50-100% more expensive than my 3 bedroom in a much nicer part of town.
    - thallium205 4y ago
      Wow you mean to say you don't get a discount when you pay month to month over a year long commitment? Pretty much everything is like that including virtually all SaaS pricing models.

gunfighthacksaw 4y ago

How long should one rent for in this hypothetical situation? Could a section 8 resident buy a house, and pay for a 1 month short term rental in the interim and meet your criteria? 6 mo? A year?

willcipriano 4y ago
How long are the people paying their own way renting?
sokoloff 4y ago
If the government is going to pay or subsidize rent for someone, I’m ok with there being a requirement that such support is needed by that recipient. If the recipient later happens to win the lottery, I’d expect them to move directly from Section 8 housing to a mansion, no waiting period needed nor desired.
Thorrez 4y ago
I don't think PragmaticPulp is saying anything about requiring people to rent before getting a house. Just that the purpose of section 8 housing is to help people who can't afford rents. If someone is saving for a house, I think that's a sign that that person can afford rents, and therefore isn't the target for section 8 housing.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
That’s not what I’m saying at all. Buying a house requires signrifajt savings for a down payment, moving costs, and so on. Subsidized housing isn’t meant to help people build up savings and accumulate possibly six figure savings to buy a house. Subsidized housing is meant to prevent people who can’t afford rent from becoming homeless. If a subsidized housing program is structured in such a way that it’s a net financial win to be on it than to be self-sufficient (e.g. renting on your own) then it becomes a “trap” as you penalize anyone trying to escape it and you incentivize people near the threshold to stay below it. If someone wins the lottery or gets a new job with a huge signing bonus or gets a huge inheritance then by all means go buy a house right away and skip the renting step. However, we need to revoke their place in the subsidized housing program as soon as they can afford to be off of it. I think people in this thread are forgetting that subsidized housing is a very limited resource and therefore we need to focus it on the people who need it most. Leaving people in the program who are accumulating six-figure house down payments from the savings would suggest that they don’t actually need the program but are taking the place of someone else who does need the help.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  > I think people in this thread are forgetting that subsidized housing is a very limited resource and therefore we need to focus it on the people who need it most. I think it’s more that the supply of subsidized housing is so low that it’s literally only people in the worst kinds of situations that qualify. Obviously someone saving for a 100k down payment doesn’t need it, but there’s a whole sea of people in between that have no options now. Rent is too expensive, and subsidized housing is unavailable (only goes to the people that need it most). Ergo, I’m stuck in my parents’ house until I die, unless I want to pay extortionate rent for a shitty apartment. Meanwhile, the people that do get subsidized housing suddenly have both a nice house and a lot of ability to save. I can totally see how that breeds resentment. I’ve heard it said that the best way to get a house would be to have kids, divorce, and then become a single mother. Which doesn’t seem to be too far from the truth.

aqme28 4y ago

You typically need ~3 months of rent on hand to get a new apartment. That can be a really large amount of money for people on assistance

thallium205 4y ago
There are month to month rentals available today that don't require the down payment requirements of a year lease.
- xnyan 4y ago
  A mini rant - short term residential rentals are the housing equivalent of payday lending in finance - a market that exists by extorting impoverished people. I was an electrician’s apprentice in college and did work for countless rental properties of all levels of quality. Short terms are built in the cheapest possible area at the lowest level of quality that’s legally allowed, and often not even meeting that low standard. On top of all of this, the cost is outrageous. A one bedroom in a short term was typically 50-100% more expensive than my 3 bedroom in a much nicer part of town.
  - thallium205 4y ago
    Wow you mean to say you don't get a discount when you pay month to month over a year long commitment? Pretty much everything is like that including virtually all SaaS pricing models.