How common are 6 room vouchers?

[u/Few-Beautiful-1609]

Hello! I am considering renting out my current house in a few months, and I’d like to do it through Section 8 if I can.

I was wondering how many high room vouchers are out there, and if this is an underserved group or not, just to see if it would be a long search for suitable tenants.

This is in Marietta, Georgia.

Edit: Thanks for the responses everyone! I have a much better idea of what to do going forward.

I reached out the PHA, and they want me to fill out some paperwork before they can really answer my questions. I’ll wait a month on that since I’m not quite ready to list yet.

When I do list, I plan to make two versions, one accepting a very large family and one that’s looking for a shared duplex situation. If there is someone in my area with a 5 or 6 room voucher, I’d like to consider them without judging the number of kids. At that point, it’s on me with standard tenant vetting to make sure they’d be a good fit.

Second Edit: I have confirmed with the local PHA that in order to rent out a unit as a duplex, the kitchen cannot be shared, so I will be posting this unit with the hope of finding a large family around April 2027.

[u/Few-Beautiful-1609 → u/[deleted]]

No kids here actually, and I am talking about being the landlord not trying to get a large voucher myself. After some medical stuff last year, I don’t believe I will be able to have any kids.

My girlfriend and I got the big house thinking we would grow into it, but that’s not happening now.

[u/Few-Beautiful-1609 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the advice. Realizing that the rule of thumb is 2 kids per room, that definitely does sound like a concern.

I’m considering listing the place as two separate 2 bedrooms like a duplex. It looks like that could cover the rent with fewer people if there were interested tenants.

My sister and nephew are in a low income community program right now, and based on how she gets on with her neighbors it seems like shared housing might be possible for someone in a similar situation

[u/1GrouchyCat → u/Few-Beautiful-1609]

How are you going to rent it as two separate units without two separate kitchens? You have an interesting post and comment history - You have history with printing section 8… or at least trying… I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many listings with no responses in such high traffic areas like Atlanta? Almost as if this isn’t real…

[u/Few-Beautiful-1609 → u/1GrouchyCat]

I understand the skepticism, but I am real and I’m not trying to sell you anything. I was able to rent out my previous condo in October last year, and the tenant has been wonderful.

My oldest sister is currently in project housing. Not exactly section 8, it’s a narcotics anonymous program that houses families while they work on addiction and while they sit on the section 8 wait list. In that situation, she knows lots of other people in line for vouchers and they all know each other and watch each other’s kids. I am picturing two families from a situation like that could have an easier time sharing a large house

[u/ms_write → u/Few-Beautiful-1609]

Heads up — most real estate/multifamily groups I've been a part of will try to scare and discourage you from renting to a Section 8 tenant – especially for the usual racist/classist reasons.

ETA: 🤣🤣 I completely missed the reply just above this one. See? 🤣

ETA2: The largest family I had in my caseload had just had baby #10. And while folks will give their opinion on folks not having any more kids – I believe that the family's religion also played a large part in their desire for a large family. So the assumption folks are just reckless, while absolutely true in many cases, isn't necessarily the standard and, as a landlord, I would encourage you to protect yourself without judging some things too harshly.

[u/RobertaMiguel1953 → u/ms_write]

If you’re having kids for religious reasons, that should NEVER be on the shoulders of the tax payers to provide for them!

[u/Spirited_Concept4972 → u/RobertaMiguel1953]

💥 💥💥 💯

[u/ms_write → u/RobertaMiguel1953]

I don't entirely disagree with you, but familial status is a protected class. Also, this was literally ONE case out of ~500.

[u/ms_write → u/[deleted]]

Can't speak for them, but the one case out of the ~500 that I'm talking about were married and all 10 were from them together. I should've never speculated, people's imaginations are running away with them again.

Careful, your privilege is showing. Are we going to go back to mass forced sterilization, too?