Hello everyone and Welcome to another
episode of Selling Greenville your
favorite real estate podcast here in the
upstate of Greenville South Carolina I'm
your host Stan McCune as always and my
contact information is in the show notes
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be that is how you can reach me and as
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able to otherwise so I would appreciate
if you guys can do those
things so today we're going to be
tackling a topic that is not an easy
topic to discuss but it's a topic of
homelessness now homelessness
is there's a lot of different facets to
it there's a lot of different things
that we can talk about when it comes to
homelessness and the reality of the
situation is that nothing that happens
will ever completely eradicate
homelessness right we're we're never
going to completely get rid of it but
that doesn't mean that we can't do our
best to solve it that we can't do our
best to try to put things in place in
order to try to put a dent in the
homeless population in Greenville and I
come at this specifically from the
standpoint of an investor and landlord
because I own rental properties and I
own properties that have people in
them that used to be homeless and I know
several other landlords that have
specifically targeted homeless vets for
instance and have attempted to to
just put a little bit of a dent in that
problem that we have here in the upstate
and I think that the reality is that
there are things that can be done that
help all of us because those of us that
have rental properties it helps us if
we're able to solve homelessness and in
in order to help our rental properties
obviously if you're driving around
you see homeless people like that's not
something that anyone wants to see it's
a heart-wrenching thing it puts you in
this weird moral dilemma do I do I help
them is my help actually helping them
if I give them money are they going to
spend that on the right thing and maybe
you don't worry about that maybe just
hand them the money maybe you take them
to lunch there's a a lot of things
going on there but if we have fewer
homeless people on our streets and and
not just because the cops are driving
them out but because they actually have
a home that's better for everyone now we
have a nationwide program and it's a
program that's that's handled locally
even though it is a nationwide program
that's called the Section 8 voucher
program and one of the main goals of the
Section 8 program is to try to solve
homelessness and it's a government
program that essentially gives people a
a housing allowance what they call a
voucher a housing allowance based on a
variety of factors their income the
size of their family Etc and they do
have to qualify in a variety of ways
in order to get into this program my
understanding is it's not super easy to
to get a voucher to begin with they
don't just hand them out willy-nilly but
that being said they've been handing
them out a lot more lately than I ever
recall I mean I've been seeing I've
been hearing and seeing that there are
weight lists in communities that are
accepting Section 8 vouchers weight
lists that are super duper long
people trying to just trying to get a
home so they can get off the
streets or perhaps they're trying to
move laterally from one home that that
they don't like into another and the
Section 8 program it's we've talked
about this in the past so I'm not going
to go into a ton of detail on the
program itself but in essence it just
direct deposits money into the
landlord's account so it's not money
that's ever handled by the tenant it's
not a it's not the kind of thing
where they can take that money and then
spend it on something else other than
housing it has to be spent on housing it
goes directly into the landlord's
account once a month via direct
deposit so this is all very simple in
theory but in practice at least from the
standpoint of those well really from
everyone's standpoint it's not quite as
simple as you might think so one of the
starting complexities here is that not
all all landlords want Section 8 now all
landlords love the idea of getting
guaranteed money from the government I
mean that's that's great just having
that direct deposit not having to chase
down rents all of these things everyone
loves conception
that
idea but there are a lot of other
concerns that some landlords have when
it comes to Section 8 program and
probably the one that I've heard the
most is simply what is the quality of
tenant or what is the caliber of tenant
that I'm getting if I'm a part of this
program that is a a major concern
because at the end of the day you only
qualify for a voucher if your income is
low a lot of the people that have lower
income come were homeless at one point
and a lot of them do have a record of
some sort that is just the reality of
the
situation and that scares off some
people and they've I've talked to a lot
of people over the years that have heard
these horror stories about Section 8
tenants that tear up you know the the
units that they're in and cause all
kinds of problems and have have drug
problems and
whatnot listen that's not inherently a
part of the program like in in fact if
they're doing drugs they're not even
supposed to be getting the voucher to
begin with they could lose the voucher
because of that is my understanding
and and same thing as as if they cause a
lot of damage to a property they could
my understanding is they could lose the
voucher in that instance as well so I
I don't necessarily see those concerns
myself that's those aren't concerns that
I personally have but that those are
concerns that I've heard from others and
experiences that others have had that
that that bothers them
and so as a result of that a lot of
landlords won't even consider Section 8
they just have this this predis
predisposed notion that if you're in
Section 8 it's inherently this type of
tenant that you're going to get that's
going to cause problems I don't want a
problem tenant I'm just not even going
to Avail myself of that program
additionally there's a bit of a
process to a property becoming eligible
for sex 8 I can't just take any old
rental property and just say okay we're
accepting Section 8 tenants the
Housing Authority has to sign off on
that there has to be an inspection that
the Housing Authority does and they have
to do this if you are in between tenants
as well and they have to do this at
various times when you have a tenant for
a long period of time they'll come in
they'll inspect they've got some Ticky
tack rules that to me aren't that big of
a deal as long as you keep up with
the property
and and that's really the reason for the
inspection is they just want to make
sure that that you're actually keeping
up with with the property since the
government is is essentially subsidizing
that property for you and so that's
another concern some landlords have a
concern that they don't want the
Housing Authority coming in doing their
inspections the inspections can be
booked out several weeks so so you may
be just waiting a month just for an
inspector to come out like I said those
tend to be a little bit a little bit
Ticky Tac but as a result of all of
this there aren't a lot of Section 8
landlords and there are far more from
what I can see at least here in
Greenville again I always warn you guys
because I get people that listen from
out of state not even if I'm taking a
broader topic like this it is still
Greenville is is still what I'm talking
about I'm not talking about other places
this may not be the same in
Albuquerque as it is here in Greenville
but in Greenville we clearly have more
people with Section 8 vouchers then we
have houses and apartments and units
available for them that are section 8
eligible now for here's the thing at
the end of the day so we have a supply
and demand problem when it comes to
Section 8 Housing and so that makes it
more difficult to to solve homelessness
right we've got this program it's
designed to try to to solve homelessness
but we don't have enough houses that
qualify for the program or that even
want to qualify for the program the land
not enough landlords that want to
qualify for the program in order to
actually put a dent in in this homeless
situation so I was actually a part of a
a webinar there were not very many
people involved with it but a local
webinar with the Housing Authority it
it was actually it was a webinar
question answer SE session where they
talked about how the the federal
government is actually trying to find
ways of making this program more
incentivizing to landlords that are a
part of it so they're actually they
realize that there are things that need
to be done to make this a more landlord
friendly program and so that's something
that that they're working on that
they're that they're trying to solve
now all that being said for the landlord
that is okay with Section 8 that is
willing to to have section 8 housing
they now have the responsibility for
screening the tenants that come to them
so let's say that they get you know 10
applicants for for the property that
they have for rent and six of them are
section 8 four of them aren't just
because a tenant is Section 8 you you
obviously don't have to automatically
accept them and you don't have to accept
them blind it's not like a first come
first serve kind of thing it's just like
with any tenant situation the landlord
has to has to screen the tenant and
look at their past and and interview
them and and do all of the all the
normal questions that they would
normally do with any sort of tenant
check on their income history check
on their references all of these
different things and the reality is that
since there are so many people with
vouchers and now they're frequently
having to get on weight lless in
different developments and and with
different property managers landlords
can be choosy they can be picky and they
can say you know what this person three
years ago they did something that's
on their record I think I'm just
going to pass on them and go with this
person that's a lot cleaner that has a
much cleaner back
background and so we're seeing that
happen happen which is in in a lot of
ways great for the landlords we've
talked about this again in previous
episodes but here's the
problem and think about it this way a
and I've already alluded to this but a
person that was previously homeless or
and maybe they never went homeless but
somehow they got on a Section 8 voucher
like this is a program that's designed
to prevent homelessness
if you are a part of that program you
probably have something in your history
that's not going to make you an
attractive tenant there's probably
something in your record that will cause
someone concern once they look at
it and so they a person may be
homeless and they may end up getting a
Section 8 voucher but then what happens
if
no landlord will take them on then just
having the voucher is useless it's like
having you know food stamps but the
grocery store has no food that that
that will accept the food stamps you're
you're still going to go hungry and so
it's it's a similar thing although much
more dramatic than the food stamps issue
because there's always going to be food
but we actually do have a Section 8
housing shortage and and that is
causing a major problem for some people
that simply can't get accepted for
housing and on the flip side of it
they may finally find someone that will
accept them but think about that who are
the people that are not being as picky
that aren't being as choosy in this
regard it's typically the landlords that
have lower standards and those lower
standards most likely go to the property
as well probably the property is held to
a lower standard as well so it's it's a
really vicious cycle right it's it's
hard to break that Homeless cycle and
then the only way that you can it's it's
kind of like if you have a a bad record
as an employee you're you're you know
you've been fired a few times you're
probably going to have to to start by
getting a terrible job and really
excelling at that terrible job in order
to work your way back into the workforce
it's kind of similar with someone that's
homeless they almost have to live in a
terrible situation in order to build
back their their track record and and
obviously that's terrible none none of
us want that for anyone but this is
why the cycle is hard to
break so what I'm wondering is
this is there room for solving this a
different way or or for for trying to
come
alongside this segment of the pop
population that finds themselves in this
situation could there be a business or a
nonprofit that leazes with both
Section 8 tenants and Section 8
landlords to help a tenant go through a
program that would better equip them to
become a better tenant is is there room
for that is there a possibility for that
and then you know after the tenant the
potential tenant after this person that
has the Section 8 voucher maybe maybe
they don't even have a voucher it
doesn't necessarily need to be a a
voucher program but someone that has
something in their history that's making
it difficult for them to to get
housing that person could then be go
through a program kind of get some kind
of certification or some kind of letter
a very strong reference from this
organization that could then be tied
into some landlords in order to be able
to connect these tenants with landlords
and here we go we have someone that
is pre-screened has gone through a
program like this makes it super simple
for the landlords they don't have to do
and the property managers they don't
have to do all this work if they trust
that organization obviously that's an
important piece of the puzzle But
ultimately it would be the kind of thing
where it's a win-win right you you've
got renters that are now better
tenants you've got landlords that now
have a a better pool to choose from a
both a bigger pool and a more vetted
pool to choose
from and it just seems like it's it's a
possibility an idea where everyone could
win and Habitat for Humanity does
something similar to this I'm not I'm
not the most knowledgeable person about
this but I know that they do something
like this for the people that go into
their houses they have a very indepth
program with cl classes and and it gets
down to a a really granular level of
of people you know even how they parent
and just having a routine and whatnot
they they do this for the people that
end up going into habitat houses and and
if you're not familiar with Habitat for
Humanity I definitely recommend that you
look it up they build affordable
housing and then help people that could
not otherwise afford a home to get into
those homes and and their mission and
the way I understand it is really to
to solve homelessness by creating more
homeowners by by bringing more
homeowners into the market and it's
really an awesome Mission I love what
they're doing but it's not enough
because not everyone is going to be a
homeowner in their lifetime and some
people have to to build up to that point
and that's the thing is that we have
all these tenants all these people that
that need to rent right now and that
that can rent right now that they might
have great income history great
employment history but bad history in
other ways and they can't find a way to
get into a
property and I'm not aware if habitat is
assisting with that in any way I'm not
aware if anyone is doing anything with
that because if they are I'm remember
I own properties that I rent to section8
tenants and nobody is approaching me
about anything like this as a landlord I
don't have any tenants coming you know
with references from an organization
like this and so it seems like there is
a hole in the market when it comes to
this that that could possibly be
filled now I I've got to thinking about
all of this because I'm I'm a part of a
Section 8 Community online that involves
both landlords and renters and I my
interest was sparked when I saw someone
on there that literally said this exact
thing what we're talking about they said
I was homeless I got my section up eight
voucher and I'm now in a situation
where I can't find a place to live I'm
still homeless like I and and I've got a
good job I've got good income but I have
something on my
record every everyone this is what they
said everyone that is homeless has some
kind of a record so what do I do how do
I solve this like I can't just make that
record go away and to be honest I I've
I've been very privileged in my life I
had never fully understood all of that I
had just never fully comprehended just
sought through it from their perspective
of like oh my
gosh yeah like you can't just even if
you have changed
and have reformed your lifestyle have
gotten off drugs alcohol have stopped
you know crime whatever your record
doesn't reflect that I mean it takes
years for your record to reflect that
and there's still going to be landlords
and property managers that are going to
look at that record even from a few
years ago and say no way too big of a
risk and
so I feel like there is some definitely
a need here and and a need needs to be
filled and I'm interested in exploring
that myself like is there something that
I could do is there something that a
community of us could do in order to try
to to fill this need and that's the
thing you know I network with a lot of
people in real estate investing in this
area and I know that there is a ton of
money going around in Greenville and and
everywhere in the real estate World tons
and tons of money being f loaded around
and yet despite that we're we're leaving
a lot of people behind and leaving those
people behind doesn't help anyone it
hurts all of us and I feel like that
there is an opportunity here that we
could I don't want to say pull resources
but that we could come together and and
utilize some of the time and the money
that we have in order to help these
people that need it most and the beauty
is that as we help them we're helping
ourselves US the US that I'm talking
about is both investors and and also if
you've never done a real estate
investment before like I said it's not
helpful for anyone when there's homeless
people on the streets that doesn't that
doesn't make that doesn't benefit
anyone and so we can help ourselves in
the process of helping these other
people that are on the streets that need
home homes that need a way to be able
to bre break that cycle of
homelessness it it is in our ability
to do it we have the money we have the
ability we have the knowledge we have
the
resources and we just need to do it and
I'm I'm not sure what that would look
like personally but I feel like it's
worth exploring and that's definitely
something that I'm going to be exploring
to to see what what can be done and and
I would really appreciate if if you guys
that are listening if you already know
of organizations that are doing this
type of thing or or if you already know
of something similar to it that is
happening right now that I could connect
with that I could could learn from I
would love to hear from you even if it's
not in Greenville I have listeners from
all over the world even if you're in a
different area and you're like hey I
know something about this a program that
helps people with bad records be able to
pass some kind of a program in order to
be able to to be accepted by a
landlord or by a property management
company in order to be able to rent
I would love to hear that I'd love to
hear your guys you guys and your
ideas if you have thoughts about this
or if you think you know that me talking
about this I'm I'm totally off based
that there's no way we can solve it or
if you have ideas for how you think that
we could perhaps not completely solve
it but help to put a dent in this
homeless problem that we have so
please do that please reach out to me my
contact information is in the show notes
if you don't already have it let me
know what your thoughts are I want to
hear it I want to have a better idea
for for what can be done and I want to
be a part of that solution I hope you
guys do as well and again Shameless
plug if you like the show if you love
the show selling Greenville please hit
that subscribe button hit the download
button rate review do do all of those
things to help get the show out there I
appreciate you guys listening I hope to
hear from some of you with regard to
this episode in particular and and I
think that we can do something here I
think that we can make our community
better by putting our our minds together
by putting our resources together so
let's do it let's figure out a way to
help solve local homelessness and and
I appreciate you guys as always
listening and thinking thoughtfully I
hope you have a great week I hope you
have many happy closings and all of that
I've got one tomorrow I'm really excited
I'll have a future show I'm sure
we'll talk about this but I'm clo I'm
selling for the first time some of my
rental properties that I've had so we'll
talk about that a little bit later down
the road but I hope you guys have a
great week stay safe and enjoy this nice
crisp fall weather that we have
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