House Hacking and Cash Flow
I'm still learning as much as possible and am new to real estate investing. Through all the reading I've done and podcasts I've listened to (coupled with my current life/living situation), house hacking looks like the best approach to me. However, my area (high cost-of-living) could make breaking even or positive cash flow difficult.
The main question: is house hacking worth it or a "good deal" if cash flow from the rented units doesn't fully cover all expenses but you're significantly reducing living costs?
For example (and just picking arbitrary numbers here), let's say:
Current living expense: $1,800/month
House to hack mortgage: $2,000/month
Rental income from house hack: $1,600/month
Expenses (including $400 leftover on mortgage): $800/month
In this example, I'd be losing $800 out-of-pocket per month, but I'd be able to save an additional $1,000 from my day job over my current situation that I could use toward a second property. What are your thoughts on this type of deal? What if the property were to cash flow positively after moving out and renting the unit I was using (after living there for a year to satisfy FHA loan constraints, for example)? Would that make the short-term more appealing?
I'm really interested in everyone's thoughts on this. I've seen another forum post about this, but it was a bit old and I didn't see any discussion around the possibility of positive cash flow after moving out. Let me know your thoughts!