Anyone have experience landlording in New Britain? (Hartford, Winsted: low income, section 8)

parentologist · 08-26-2010, 11:19 AM

We're considering buying a 3 family home in New Britain as a rental property. We'd plan on buying something run down, fixing it up, and renting, hopefully to Section 8 tenants, since then we'd know that the rent would be paid. Anyone with any experience or advice?

JayCT · 08-26-2010, 12:46 PM

I have a friend who did that and he did have issues. In fact he sold it a few years ago out of frustration. The problem was not rent payment, it was damage to the property and lack of cleanliness. It cost him a fortune to clean and repair the place up when people moved out. And he had complaints from other tenants all the time about noise, pests, police actions, etc. He just gave up on it. Just want you to be aware of these issues. Good luck, Jay

Uconn97 · 08-26-2010, 01:46 PM

Agree with JayCT. Also there is a renting forum that might have some helpful info for you.

Back in the 80's my parents owned and tried renting a 3 family in hartford. It became a real hassle. They only had one good tenant who cared at all about the property. Others trashed it and the back and forth trips for things became a burden. They sold about 2 years later.

heather121 · 08-26-2010, 05:57 PM

Having rented and looked for apartments extensively in New Britain, actually *owning* a rental property seems like it would be a crap shoot.

From my observations, the people in New Britain who need rentals are college students/roommates and working-class families. If you want to go for Section 8 (for the assurance of money from the state), you have to be prepared for the tenants not caring about the property. Whatever you fix before they move in, plan on fixing even more afterward. Same story with college students/roommates, unless you are lucky enough to find the few students that don't party every weekend.

S2000 · 08-27-2010, 01:27 PM

Good luck with Section 8. My dad was a contractor and that business was his bread and butter. Go in a week or 2 of work and put $2-3k in his pocket. He also had about a half dozen rentals and not one sec 8

Yes be prepared to do a lot of fixing up.

Whats worked for us is renting to young families that are saving to buy a house or the elderly. It keeps a nice rental stream coming in and they usually keep the place in better condition than leaving. Its not easy but performing a lot of due dilegence on screening prospective tenants up front saves a lot of headaches down the road.

nep321 · 08-27-2010, 02:46 PM

My dad is a major real estate investor in CT, and has owned dozens and dozens of residental multi-family homes in Hartford. He absoluted DREADED Section 8 tenants. His biggest complaint was that they trashed the place so much and didn't really follow rules, and this caused him to have to constantly maintain the place and replace appliances, clean-up, etc. Luckily, he has moved into commercial real estate nowadays.

mlassoff · 08-27-2010, 05:49 PM

My dad's not a real estate mogul-- He's an airline pilot, but it seems as though that low end tennants can be difficult whether or not they are on section 8. He owned a couple of condos in Naug, and while they were not section 8, they were inexpensive and in not-so-great neighborhoods. He had some of the same problems that you described with section 8 tenants.

nep321 · 08-27-2010, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlassoff

My dad's not a real estate mogul-- He's an airline pilot, but it seems as though that low end tennants can be difficult whether or not they are on section 8. He owned a couple of condos in Naug, and while they were not section 8, they were inexpensive and in not-so-great neighborhoods. He had some of the same problems that you described with section 8 tenants.

This is true about renting to inner-city minority tenants in general (Section 8 or not). My father owned anywhere from 20-30 multi-family homes in Hartford, and about 50% of them defaulted on the rent. It was a serious problem. He also owned property in Winsted and had the same problem. Low income communities in general are not reliable for earning rental income. He did, however, have better luck with a few beach house properties in Niantic and Waterford. The tenants there were more reliable.

Managing a significant amount of these types of properties is a full-time job in itself. The idea is not to just collect rental income on a monthly basis from all the tenants, but rather, to earn a return on your investment in the property in the future. The rental income is primarily used to pay the mortgage on the property, and leftover income to feed your own family.

mlassoff · 08-27-2010, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nep321

This is true about renting to inner-city minority tenants in general (Section 8 or not).

Umm Wow.

We rented to non-minority trashy people too. It's not about race.

nep321 · 08-27-2010, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Umm Wow.

We rented to non-minority trashy people too. It's not about race.

Well, maybe you had a different experience. Of course it happens with all types of people. But, from my father's experience, a *much* higher percentage of his minority tenants defaulted on the rent than the non-minority tenants.

Just saying.