Have Sec. 8 Housing Vouchers? Rent this 7700 sf paradise, only $7,500 a month!

[Jacana]

While researching an area for a potential job change/move, I came across this:

http://www.homes.com/property/11802-farside-rd-ellicott-city-md-21042/id-400013214270/

"Large home on over 6+ acres! Entertainers/Sports Lovers paradise! Home has indoor pool, hot tub, racquetball court, billard room, gym, sauna, steam room, tennis court, 5 FP's, huge MBD w/ private sunroom, balcony and 2 jetted tubs. Additional detached garage with loft apartment, huge guest suite. LL w/ 2nd Kitchen, and more! Housing Vouchers Welcome!"

I... just... WTF??

[Sid Hoffman]

I honestly have no idea how Section 8 works, so I had to check the Wikipedia page for it.  It says the maximum voucher is $2200, so if you can get even half that, you're at $1100.  Perhaps there's some way for them to write it up as 7 separate leases: one for each bedroom of the home?  The listing quotes it as $1071 per bedroom.  Maybe if you have a huge family and each person signs a separate lease for a separate "unit" of the home?  Yeah I dunno.  Either that or it was just a copy/paste template mistake on the part of the listing agent.  That seems far more likely.

[gimp]

Probably a copy-paste that wasn't supposed to be there.

[Pooperman]

A friend of mine owns some rentals. He says he's had some potential tenants come to him and say they'll do section 8 and pay the rest under the table (I.e. Hey don't qualify for sec 8).

[Secretly Saving]

I think I've seen that house!  When we lived in that area.  Since you're looking at a job, I'll just add that Howard County is a nice place to be!

[Jacana]

Sid Hoffman , gimp, I really hope you are right about it being a listing typo! Or open to multiple families moving in, which seems pretty risky for the owner. I think section 8 goes by family, eg couple with 2 kids gets 1 voucher @ max 2200, not 4 vouchers @ 2200 each, so it would have to be multiple families to make up the rent. I think.

A friend of mine owns some rentals. He says he's had some potential tenants come to him and say they'll do section 8 and pay the rest under the table (I.e. Hey don't qualify for sec 8).

Wow. Well, I really hope that someone who can pay 5000/mo out of pocket plus ridiculous utilities hasn't somehow gotten qualified.

I think I've seen that house!  When we lived in that area.  Since you're looking at a job, I'll just add that Howard County is a nice place to be!

Aw, and you didn't jump on your opportunity to rent/buy it? You missed out! My husband just landed an interview up there, and his family lives in Howard as do some friends, so it would be convenient. We've never lived in that county, but used to live in MoCo and we were over there all the time. But it does seem pretty pricey compared to where we are now. Debating our options for renting vs potential salary and commute so he knows the salary range needed. It's not looking good.

[Pooperman]

Sid Hoffman , gimp, I really hope you are right about it being a listing typo! Or open to multiple families moving in, which seems pretty risky for the owner. I think section 8 goes by family, eg couple with 2 kids gets 1 voucher @ max 2200, not 4 vouchers @ 2200 each, so it would have to be multiple families to make up the rent. I think.

A friend of mine owns some rentals. He says he's had some potential tenants come to him and say they'll do section 8 and pay the rest under the table (I.e. Hey don't qualify for sec 8).

Wow. Well, I really hope that someone who can pay 5000/mo out of pocket plus ridiculous utilities hasn't somehow gotten qualified.

I think I've seen that house!  When we lived in that area.  Since you're looking at a job, I'll just add that Howard County is a nice place to be!

Aw, and you didn't jump on your opportunity to rent/buy it? You missed out! My husband just landed an interview up there, and his family lives in Howard as do some friends, so it would be convenient. We've never lived in that county, but used to live in MoCo and we were over there all the time. But it does seem pretty pricey compared to where we are now. Debating our options for renting vs potential salary and commute so he knows the salary range needed. It's not looking good.

I should amend by saying they shouldn't qualify, but do because they work under the table. Figure the rent was something like $2000/month, and the sec 8 they received to be around $1500/month.