Section 8. Say What?

I will admit that I live a good life in a nice area that is prosperous and safe. ?Winnetka and other North Shore suburbs are extremely blessed with well-to-do hard-working people who live in lovely homes and who take good care of them. ?Public education is taken for granted - it is all good here. ?

As a real estate broker, I sell homes for and to these same people. ?Most of my buyer clients write cash offers and have no financial difficulties. ?Many scoff at my suggestions to lower (yes, lower) their offers and counteroffers. ?Homes are bought, updated and decorated, luxury cars are parked in three-car heated garages. ?Life goes on.

At least in my tiny microcosm of the universe. ?Elsewhere, I know it's different, but I didn't really know.

Yesterday I had a peek into the life of someone who does not enjoy the free and easy lifestyles that we on the North Shore enjoy. ?Someone who is also searching for a safe home and good schools for her children.

She found me online - calling about a listing I have and wondering if it might also be for rent. ?When I told her it was not, she told me about a rental listing that she really likes and wanted to see. ?

It was in a a different area, a town less prosperous, one that I never sold in. ?Only occasionally, did I even drive through it.

And it was for a rental - I rarely did them. But something in her voice made me decide to take the extra time and show her the house.

I got there promptly at 3:00 pm - at 3:20 I called her. ?She was still on the bus. ?Wait, a bus! ?You are taking a bus here?

No car, and dragging along two lovely little boys she finally shows up at 3:45, wet from the drizzle, but excited. ?

Let me also add that this house is not what I am used to showing. ?Tiny with 3 little bedrooms, a worn kitchen, chain link fence around the back, and not much else. ?I really ?had no idea where I was and what I was doing showing this house to this woman. ?

But she loved it - it would work perfectly for her family. ?She was, you see, living in a noisy apartment with some unruly neighbors and feared for her children. ?It was perfect for her and she would take good care of it. ?

Then she told me she was section 8. ?Huh? ?Sure, I had heard of it, but what did it actually mean. ?She patiently explained how it worked and I marveled at this woman, her two little boys, the bus, the rain, the house, and now Section 8. ?This life was a struggle and nothing ever did or would come easy. ?When they left, I offered her a ride to the bus stop (several long blocks away) but she proudly marched off, two well- behaved boys in tow, and said "No thank you."

It doesn't end well. ?The landlord refuses to rent to someone with Section 8 financing. ?I checked, it's not even a Fair Housing violation.

Source: http://activerain.com/blogsview/3508329/section-8-say-what-

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