House hacking means buying a property, living in part of it, and renting out the rest so that tenants cover most or all of the housing cost.
Log in to followI read a lot of leases for owners who live in one unit of a two or three unit and rent the rest, and they are almost always the same document the off-site owners use. Then the own…
This is the argument I keep having with two people I trust and they've never once agreed. Setup. Duplex, $460k, payment $3,300 all in. The other side rents for $1,700. I live in t…
Side by side duplex, 429k, 5 percent conventional owner occupied. PITI plus MIP lands around 3,150. Other side rents at 1,750, market supports maybe 1,800 on turnover. So I'm out…
Bought a 1950s ranch for $265k with an FHA loan, 3.5 percent down. It had a walkout basement with its own door to the side yard, which is why I bought it instead of the cleaner ho…
Trying to buy my first place next year and house hacking is the only version of the math that works, but every example I read is either three roommates in a five bedroom or a dupl…
I've been underwriting rentals as a spreadsheet exercise for a while and the loan side was always "20 to 25 percent down, done." Then I started reading about house hacking and the…
My lender walked me through FHA on a small multifamily and I came away confused about one thing. I had it in my head that since I'd only be living in one of the four units, the 3.…
Bought a triplex two years ago at 412k, 3.5 percent down, owner-occupying the small back unit. PITI including the mortgage insurance is 3,205. The two units I rent are at 1,340 an…
I've read the FHA multi-unit path a few times now and it makes sense to me: buy up to a fourplex, live in one, low down payment because you're an owner-occupant. Clear enough. Wha…
Offer accepted at 296k on what the listing called a duplex. Upstairs is a two bedroom, downstairs is a one bedroom with its own entrance off the side yard. Separate electric, shar…
Looking at a 1950s house where the seller has a tenant in a walkout basement with a full kitchen and its own door. County records show a single family, one unit, and zoning for th…
I own a 1,100 square foot house on a corner lot, free of any loan, bought it years ago and lived in it since. Detached two-car garage at the back with alley access, 480 square fee…
Occupancy year is nearly up on the duplex I live in and the plan was always to move out, rent my side, and do it again on a bigger building in the next metro over. Two snags. My l…
I've been reading listings in two directions for about a month and they lead to completely different lives. Direction one is a small multifamily, duplex or triplex, where I take a…
Small town market, two-unit frame building, asking 145k. Both sides are 2/1, in-place rents are 700 each and I think market is closer to 750. With 3.5 percent down I'm financing a…
I run low price point rural stuff, and the house hack question I can't resolve is how long to actually stay after the occupancy requirement is satisfied. The repeat model says you…
I bought a four bedroom on the edge of a state school town, $340k, 5 percent down on an owner-occupied conventional loan. Payment with taxes and insurance came to $2,650. The plan…
Looking at a 1,900 sq ft single family with a permitted 1-bed over the garage, already has its own meter. Listing at 465k. Market rent on the ADU looks like 1,450 based on three c…
I gut and rebuild for a living, so I lean toward buying the cheaper house and building the rental unit myself. A basement apartment on a house I already own costs me materials plu…
Bought a 1960s triplex in a first ring suburb for $520k with FHA at 3.5 percent down, so $18,200 down and about $12,000 in closing costs and prepaids. PITI with the mortgage insur…