Income based housing/apartments?

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Hey BITOG'ers,

Curious if anyone here can shed some light on income based housing. My father is looking for a new home and suffice to say, he aint rich. LOL

I am in the process of enlisting in the Air Force, so I won't be around to help him out directly like I have been (gotta take care of your folks!) so I am currently helping him find a place. We found a nice little apartment in an older section of Orlando, but the numbers don't quite add up for him to afford it; unless I add my information/income as a co-applicant. A possibility, but not ideal.

Also, if anyone knows of any housing options for a retired fella around the West-Orlando/West Central Florida area, I'd love some info.

Thanks!
 
Is the option available of him moving to an area with a lower cost of living?

Is he still working?
 
I thought you were going to ask about Section 8. There's usually a waiting list to get one, it can be years. Anyway with the section 8 voucher if the landlord accepts it, the tenant only pays 30% of his income toward rent and the rest is covered by the voucher. Otherwise the way other people normally do it is get other roommates. I suppose you could search around for a complex that might not have a waiting list. But typically that's how supply and demand works. When the prices are really low, you have a waiting list, when it's too high, it's vacant.
 
People on AirBnB have rentals for long term tenants, maybe look there.

What will you be doing in the USAF ?
Thanks for your service.
 
I used to build housing complexes, we would organize the cash flow so that there were about 10% of the units that were income based and the rest had marginally higher rents ... we're talking a few % ... to cover the difference. Our market prices were still competitive so it didn't hurt vacancy rates.

We also always built wheelchair accessible units in the complexes as well ... they were the most expensive (same sq footage on 1 floor, in a 2-floor + basement townhouse complex, plus wide doors, wheelchair access under sinks, special heights for switches, special fixtures like door and faucet handles, etc). In some cases we had low income residents in the accessibility-compliant suites. They were always financially sound projects.
 
Section 8 amount depends on how much you make. Some years you make more and the amount they subsidize will go down while the rent remains the same (plus increase based on allowable on the contract). This is something many tenants don't understand: the landlord didn't raise your rent that much, the government paid less and you have to cover more because you made more. Which is fair as you are now more capable of taking care of yourself.

Many landlords won't take section 8 though, because of the quality of the tenants (of all background, it has nothing to do with ethnics or nationality or language or gender or family status).
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
People on AirBnB have rentals for long term tenants, maybe look there.

What will you be doing in the USAF ?
Thanks for your service.




For long term (more than 6 months) rental AirBnb is a bad choice. You are better off with newspaper or craigslist.
 
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
People on AirBnB have rentals for long term tenants, maybe look there.

What will you be doing in the USAF ?
Thanks for your service.


For long term (more than 6 months) rental AirBnb is a bad choice. You are better off with newspaper or craigslist.


Why a bad choice?

A family friend is renting a room near University of Florida and plays less compared to a 1 bedroom / 1 bath apartment. Some older people need the money and don't mind a non crazy full-time student. Her efficiency has a private entrance and is in a nice neighborhood, close to the campus and hospital where she works.

She pays $700 a month and that includes all utilities, wifi and has a washer/dryer.
 
OP,
I would check the local Section8/HCV(Housing Choice Voucher) lists status....(closed, low funding,....)
If your dad is a vet, there is HUDVASH: VA Section8

ALso another small niche is the various non-profits which offers short-term (and sometimes longer-term) assistance...

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Section 8 amount depends on how much you make. Some years you make more and the amount they subsidize will go down while the rent remains the same (plus increase based on allowable on the contract). This is something many tenants don't understand: the landlord didn't raise your rent that much, the government paid less and you have to cover more because you made more. Which is fair as you are now more capable of taking care of yourself.

Many landlords won't take section 8 though, because of the quality of the tenants (of all background, it has nothing to do with ethnics or nationality or language or gender or family status).

Section 8 is a federal program, but administered by the local agency!(Clear as mud..)

They (renters/tenants) will pay between 0-30% of income. Hence some will have jobs under the table/for cash.
Some will try to get the landlord to use a rent number on paper (X) and the actual rent/market under the table (x+200): good luck collecting the extra

But why people/landlords don't accept it... it's a lot of stories:
-if a bad area, they need more babysitting/repairs (10-20% extra as an average)
-"extra" people coming for one night....
-not a lot of management companies specialize in those areas
-good people exists, but are hard to find
-annual inspection (and sometimes the inspectors can be really nit-picky)=repairs not needed for market renters
(we are not even talking about slumlords at this point)
-inspections standards double with small children in the house
-some HA (Housing Authorities) have decided unilaterally during the budget crunch that the landlords should receive less and decreased the payments by a lot (example: HA of Raleigh, NC)
-sometimes the HA approve rent increases that do not make sense in a real market (increase from$625 to $650; market is 800-900)
-additional paper-work
-and i didn't even get into rent control...

Being a Section8/Low income landlord is not for beginners or the faint of heart/falling for sucker stories.
This is a people's business, and you better read people good.
...and train them good!
You need a lot of luck, in some places some "Protection", know the influencers in the community (local church, alderman's office, local block committee chief , local gang chief), have a good supply of trades and handymens willing to work in the area,
and have at least 100 units (to spread the risk).
 
With a few exceptions the section 8 housing and really all the subsidized housing in my town is populated by out of area drug dealers (meth, heroin) and their customers. They get off dirt cheap because they claim no income and the addicts claim they're disabled. Really has not worked out well for my town (small rural town in MN)
 
Appreciate the replies everyone!

I spoke with my recruiter again today and he said it may not be until Feb/March until I go off to basic, so now I am thinking about getting a place with him until then.

I'll have to go through all the replies a bit more extensive and see what will help us out. I know Section 8 is a seriously mixed bag; some are full of hard working people that hit a rough patch and other areas are full of ... riff raff... to say the least.

There are a lot of mobile homes around Florida, and we are checking those out, but for the time being an apartment would be best suited for him. No law maintenance, relatively quick maintenance repairs, lower utility bills, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
People on AirBnB have rentals for long term tenants, maybe look there.

What will you be doing in the USAF ?
Thanks for your service.


For long term (more than 6 months) rental AirBnb is a bad choice. You are better off with newspaper or craigslist.


Why a bad choice?

A family friend is renting a room near University of Florida and plays less compared to a 1 bedroom / 1 bath apartment. Some older people need the money and don't mind a non crazy full-time student. Her efficiency has a private entrance and is in a nice neighborhood, close to the campus and hospital where she works.

She pays $700 a month and that includes all utilities, wifi and has a washer/dryer.


Sorry for the late reply (new job, no time to browse).

You can do the same as airbnb without the extra cost like cleaning and security. People look for roommate all the time and renting a room all the time on craigslist too.
 
Originally Posted By: pandus13

But why people/landlords don't accept it... it's a lot of stories:
-if a bad area, they need more babysitting/repairs (10-20% extra as an average)
-"extra" people coming for one night....
-not a lot of management companies specialize in those areas
-good people exists, but are hard to find
-annual inspection (and sometimes the inspectors can be really nit-picky)=repairs not needed for market renters
(we are not even talking about slumlords at this point)
-inspections standards double with small children in the house
-some HA (Housing Authorities) have decided unilaterally during the budget crunch that the landlords should receive less and decreased the payments by a lot (example: HA of Raleigh, NC)
-sometimes the HA approve rent increases that do not make sense in a real market (increase from$625 to $650; market is 800-900)
-additional paper-work
-and i didn't even get into rent control...

Being a Section8/Low income landlord is not for beginners or the faint of heart/falling for sucker stories.
This is a people's business, and you better read people good.
...and train them good!
You need a lot of luck, in some places some "Protection", know the influencers in the community (local church, alderman's office, local block committee chief , local gang chief), have a good supply of trades and handymens willing to work in the area,
and have at least 100 units (to spread the risk).


Another thing I dislike about section 8, the HA takes a long time to inspect and approve a rental contract. This is time that a tenant can start living and the time you start collecting rent. The home is sitting idle, doing nothing, just like when it is waiting for permit inspector before you can start the work and before people can start living in it.

I've waited almost a month once, never again.
 
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