How Much Money will I Really make Renting to Tenants with a PHA Choice Voucher in Philly?
As property managers, we often get calls from excited landlords. They’ve seen the latest PHA Payment Standard by Zipcode and they want our assistance with renting to PHA tenants so they can collect those higher rents. Not so fast! We often have to remind landlords to read the fine print on the schedule, which can be found here: https://www.pha.phila.gov/housing/housing-choice-voucher/payment-standards/
The payments on the schedule are the maximum per bedroom/zipcode. Just like with market tenants, PHA will look to see what amenities your property has. If you’ve installed washer, dryer, central air, nice appliances and everything looks brand new then yes, you’ll likely get the maximum from PHA or close to it. But don’t expect to present your property with “vintage” wood paneling, and no new amenities and get top dollar.
The other thing to keep in mind, as that while tenants may view certain rooms a bedroom and be perfectly happy use them as such, PHA may say the room doesn’t qualify. For example, some larger homes may use a room towards the rear of the home with the back door as egress as a bedroom. We’ve seen some nice ones that have everything you’d need – some even with an ensuite bath, but because other household members may have to walk through the room to access the yard, it’s not considered private enough to be a bedroom by PHA So while you and your tenants may see it as a 3 bedroom home, PHA will view it as a 2 bedroom home and pay accordingly.
Many landlords are being paid good money working with PHA, but just manage your expectations, consider adding amenities and maintaining your properties well as you would with any other tenants.
