Posted on 08/02/2010 8:50:10 AM PDT by reaganaut1
...
The program, known as Section 8, has for decades put families in functional but basic homes and apartments, sometimes in less-than-desirable communities.
But overbuilding during the housing boom has left so many homes available that landlords, desperate for renters, are wooing Section 8 recipients, whose government subsidies, delivered electronically, guarantee the landlord gets paid. As a result, Section 8 recipients suddenly have a housing smorgasbord.
Plenty of average housing stock remains in many places, but in certain markets, there are also more upscale selections. On the website GoSection8.com, landlords nationwide tout boom-era showpieces—replete with "great rooms," backyard swimming pools and built-in stainless-steel barbecue grills—that once sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Las Vegas has been one of the nation's hardest-hit real-estate markets.
Some renters are getting pickier. "More and more, I'm seeing tenants turn down places," says Arman Davtyan, owner of seven Las Vegas properties rented to Section 8 tenants. Instead, they're going for "another property that's either bigger or in a better area or has more bedrooms," he says. "Before, they tended to take whatever they could get."
Though some neighbors have long contended that government-subsidized tenants increase crime and depress property values, some now say that having a house occupied is better than leaving it vacant, which attracts vandalism and other problems.
In Antioch, Calif., a San Francisco bedroom community where the number of Section 8 listings has skyrocketed in recent years, residents have mixed emotions about the new tenants. "I would concede, I wouldn't be happy with an empty house," says Walter Ruehlig, a longtime resident of Antioch. "It's kind of like, 'What poison do you choose?"'
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Will any Republican politicians have the guts to talk about this?
There goes the neighborhood...
Section 8 has been cited for accelerating neighborhood decline.
>>Will any Republican politicians have the guts to talk about this?<<
No. At least, not if they want to get elected. That is why there is no political solution to our situation. It just has to play out to the bitter end. And yes, it will be bitter indeed.
Government needs to get out of the housing business, Section 8, or “affordable housing” as Fwank says. Section 8 and “affirmative action mortgages” ruin neighborhoods and local schools. Crime goes up, learning goes down. It’s a disaster.
“The program, known as Section 8, has for decades put families in functional but basic homes and apartments, sometimes in less-than-desirable communities. “
***
Wrong. Where I live, many of the homes were stately and beautiful — top of the line homes at one time. The communities became less desirable once the pigs moved in and trashed the homes.
I know of one section 8 where a woman and 2 rug rats have a 1400 sq,ft, 3 bedroom 2 bath condo that rents for $1575 and the tenant only has to pay $75.
They have been living there for 6 years that I know of.
...
Ms. Newburn can thank the housing bust. She participates in a government program for low-income families that subsidizes about half of her $1,400 monthly rent. The program, known as Section 8, has for decades put families in functional but basic homes and apartments, sometimes in less-than-desirable communities.
...
Last year, Mr. Davtyan, who rents to Section 8 tenants, paid $60,000 in cash for a four-bedroom house in North Las Vegas. He charges rent of $1,436 each month, giving him a profit of about $15,000 per year after insurance and property taxes, he says. He also paid $60,000 for a six-bedroom house in central Las Vegas 18 months ago that once commanded nearly $300,000. It rents for nearly $1,700 a month.
“It’s the most lucrative way to go right now,” he says. “Nowhere else does your money make that kind of return.”
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Yes. MOving on up ... to the top ...
Recall the Jeffersons
Well we’re movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
Fish don’t fry in the kitchen;
Beans don’t burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin’,
Just to get up that hill.
Now we’re up in the big leagues,
Gettin’ our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it’s you and me baby,
There ain’t nothin wrong with that.
Well we’re movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
Oh, see it too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb6ErLPt4t8
I imagine the section 8 lines have dwindled away, and a lot of landlords are going to have new maintenance experiences as subsidized renters occupy their buildings.
“I know of one section 8 where a woman and 2 rug rats have a 1400 sq,ft, 3 bedroom 2 bath condo that rents for $1575 and the tenant only has to pay $75”
That is obscene! Utterly obscene!
No section 8 for this landlord. They wreck more than the rent and violate rules causing problems. They are wards of the state for a good reason.
People should pay for the rent out of their SSD/SSI. My mom who had a mental illness (a lifetime of abuse) got Section 8, but there are too many welfare losers who have too many kids and ruin neighborhoods because they don’t pay for and appreciate the home they move into. They should pay for it out of the lavish benefits they receive.
When you think of it, most of the original so-called owners were nothing more than subsidized pikers. The wonders of CRA. Couple that with the export of the welfare class to suburbia and you are looking at a whole lot of newly destroyed neighborhoods.
ooooohhhh....Wards of the State!! Much more slave-like and demeaning than “on welfare”......oooohhhhh.
Section 8 is also a method used to effect the vote in certain areas. A bloc of voters is moved in. In our area we have been flooded with poor southern blacks, the movement started in 1995.
................. “More and more, I’m seeing tenants turn down places,” [snip] Instead, they’re going for “another property that’s either bigger or in a better area or has more bedrooms,” ................................
Sure, ya gotta get a place with lots of copper and fixturess and appliances to rip out and sell for drug cash.
The apartment building where my mom lives (and has lived for over 50 years) is in trendy SOHO in NYC, where a lot of people want to live.
Two units have been available for rent for several months. No takers.
Something is up.
Official Obama -residential song.
The audio has been disabled for that one. Click on Jeffersons opening, season 1. Right below that is Hitler sings the opening to The Jeffersons. Check it out. Its hilarious!
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