The Sarasota Housing Authority offers two housing assistance programs for needy families. The Section 8 voucher program is the one that applies most to private landlords.
Under this program, qualifying tenants may rent accommodation from private landlords and pay a portion of the rent with vouchers provided by the federal government. These vouchers usually amount to around 70% of the rent for the accommodation.
The promise of guaranteed income is an appealing one for Sarasota landlords, but your property must meet certain criteria if you want to offer it to voucher recipients. One of these is rent reasonableness.
Read on to find out how the Section 8 program decides whether your rent prices are suitable for voucher recipients.
Calculating Rent Reasonability
According to the Section 8 housing guidelines, the rent reasonability process hinges on two calculations. These are:
Fair Market Rent (FMR)
The Public Housing Authority uses Sarasota rental market insights to calculate fair market rents for each neighborhood in the city. They do this by researching the rent prices for each unit size in an area.
Luxury units and those younger than 15 months old are automatically excluded from this process.
Next, they calculate the 40th percentile of these rents, which is an amount that's higher than 40% and lower than 60% of the rent for homes in the area.
PHA Payment Standard
The PHA payment standard is an amount that the public housing authority pays toward renting Section 8 homes. It depends on the number of bedrooms in the home and is usually an amount between 90% and 110% of the FMR.
Section 8 tenants must pay the balance of any rent due to the landlord. The PHA does affordability checks on tenants to ensure they can pay their portion.
Why Become a Section 8 Landlord?
Due to the high demand for Section 8 accommodation, Section 8 landlords rarely have to worry about vacancies in their properties. They're also assured that the Section 8 program will pay at least 70% of their rent every month.
Section 8 voucher recipients usually make good tenants, and they're likely to renew their leases too. If they don't pay their rent on time and damage your property, they could lose their access to the program.
You should still take steps to screen these tenants according to your usual processes. The PHA only screens them concerning their financial eligibility for the program.
Mastering Landlord Compliance Strategies
Signing up for Section 8 housing is an attractive prospect for landlords who are weary of the uncertainties involved with finding new tenants and keeping them in place. Yet, it's important to consider the profitability of your property investment before embarking on this course.
PMI Sarasota can help you make the best decisions for your property. Our rental property assessment process provides a clear indication of market-related rents for your home, and our goal is always to ensure you profit from your investments.
We offer a complete range of property management services and use the latest technology to ensure you stay informed every step of the way. Get in touch for assistance with managing your Sarasota investment properties today.
