Am I doing it wrong or just not seeing the big picture?

Question

First home buyer with VA loan with no money down. I'm looking to house hack a small multi-family. High interest rates and property tax has been killing a lot of deals. It seems the only way to cash flow in this market is to put a down payment. All properties I've looked at has negative or no cash flow.

Am I not being creative enough or is the market just tough right now?

Caleb Brown · Answer

Are you running numbers while you occupy or when it's vacant? If numbers show negative as you live in it that is going to happen on any deal. The whole point of a house hack is to get into a 2-4 unit with low or no DP and reduce your living expenses. This helps you save and snowball into another. When you move out you will want to run numbers to see what that would come out to.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Long Thao you may want to reset your expectations!

Every investor is faced with this challenge.

Couple of options:

1) Accept that since you are putting $0 down, it's highly unlikely you will cashflow for 3-5 years if you buy a Class A property.

2) You can lower this time to 1-3 years if you buy Class B. If you go down to Class C you should cashflow right away.-NOTE: be sure you understand the challenges of investing in Class B & C properties!

3) If you want to buy Class A, you will have to start WORKING at it!- You will need to ru your numbers backwards, starting with anticipated rents, to then get to how much to offer on a property. Many owners will say no, one will eventually say yes.

Everyone wants to just offer asking price and have a cashflowing rental - those days ended 3+ years ago.

Corby Goade · Answer

What makes you think you are doing it wrong? Not every investment HAS to cash flow, there are lots of other ways to make money in real estate other than cash flow.

My personal opinion is that there is so much talk about cash flow that newbies get scared to make any moves at all and head back to their cubicles with their tails between their legs.

Is cash flow bad? Absolutely not, it's fantastic, but it's just ONE piece of a much larger puzzle. David Greene has it right, and if you are new and not listening to his podcast, you are missing out. He digs in to all of the different ways people can make money in real estate- he has 10 different options that he talks about, and to be honest, cash flow is really the one that will often give you the least benefit in the long run.

So yes, in my opinion, you probably are doing it wrong. If you are only looking at cash flow, you are probably missing many other opportunities that are right in front of you.

Greg Scott · Answer

On a fully-leveraged house hack you can't look at the deal the same as a normal investment.

If you would normally pay $1,000 per month for rent, but by doing a househack, you have negative $500 per month cashflow, you are still ahead of the game.  You've basically cut your housing cost in half, plus get some tax deductions and have an asset that will grow in value over the long run.

Of course, you need to factor in potential vacancy, repairs, etc into that cashflow calculation.

Joseph Tadres · Answer

I’d recommend focusing on properties where you can create value instead of waiting for perfect numbers. Look for places with under-market rents, extra bedrooms you can rent, or an easy cosmetic rehab you can tackle with a VA renovation loan. I’ve seen buyers boost cash flow by renting by the room or adding a short-term rental unit if local rules allow. Also run the numbers on a duplex or triplex in a slightly less “hot” neighborhood.

Corby Goade · Answer

Truth. And honestly, if you find a deal like that, you're most likely trading equity for terms up front, which will often not serve you well in the long run.

Aaron Zimmerman · Answer

The goal with house hacking is to reduce housing expenses. If you can live for free, then great, but that's not going to be incredibly common in todays market. So long as the property cash flows upon move out, then go ahead and purchase the property

Elealeh Fulmaran · Answer

You’re not doing it wrong—the market’s just tight, and house hacks have taken the biggest hit with rates and taxes. The play now is to adjust strategy, not force the math.

How to make a VA house hack work today:

• Target small multis with add-on income (garage rentals, storage, coin-op laundry, RV/boat parking, utility bill-backs). One extra stream can flip negative to breakeven.
• Underwrite both LTR and room-by-room/MTR once you move out. If the second path doesn’t push DSCR above 1, pass.
• Push for seller credits or buydowns—payment is the lever when rates are high.
• Use creative structures: VA on the first, seller-paid buydown, or even a light second from the seller for year one.
• Expand your box: check nearby submarkets with better rent-to-price, or pivot to a live-in flip with clear value-add.

Target small multis with add-on income (garage rentals, storage, coin-op laundry, RV/boat parking, utility bill-backs). One extra stream can flip negative to breakeven.

Underwrite both LTR and room-by-room/MTR once you move out. If the second path doesn’t push DSCR above 1, pass.

Push for seller credits or buydowns—payment is the lever when rates are high.

Use creative structures: VA on the first, seller-paid buydown, or even a light second from the seller for year one.

Expand your box: check nearby submarkets with better rent-to-price, or pivot to a live-in flip with clear value-add.

Quick filter: if it won’t cash flow day one, can you add income or cut costs in 90 days? If not, does value-add clearly lift ARV/rents enough to refi safely? If neither, it’s a no.

Patrick Roberts · Answer

There really isnt a way to buy turnkey off the MLS with 0 downpayment and "cashflow" on day 1. Those days are gone.

Am I doing it wrong or just not seeing the big picture?

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