If you visit HUDs website, you can find out exactly what you need to qualify for housing based on income. HUD determines whether or not you can live in income based homes by checking your wage or salary. If you qualify, then HUD will help pay a portion of your rent directly to the landlord, but you will still be responsible for any remaining rent that is not covered by HUD. We were able to get accepted into the program and we considered ourselves very lucky.
We talked to a friend who happened to have a friend who was renting a house to people in the section 8 program. He gave us a really good deal on the home after we told him our story. The house happened to be in a nice neighborhood too. When you are looking for housing, location is very important. You want to find a nice place to live where there is little crime. Also, it would be nice if shopping was close by so that you don't have to spend all your time driving to and from civilization.
When you've finally made a decision on the home you want to move into, you should do a thorough walk through of the home and note the things that need fixing and cleaning. You want everything to be working when you first move in, otherwise it will be a hassle later on when you want to use something but it's not working.
One last point you should consider is to buy renter's insurance when you move into the income based housing. These insurance can come in handy if someone ever steals or destroys your property. Renter's insurance cost around $100 to $200 per year so it would be well worth it if you own laptops, Ipods, or other expensive accessories.
