Specialist · Houston, TX · Member since 2019 · 6 posts · 8 votes
Hey all,
I am currently a student at the University of Florida and was interested in the idea of house hacking a single family and renting out the rooms to other students. I am currently paying an exorbitant amount in rent in an apartment and am trying to find ways to reduce if not eliminate that expense.
I was just wandering if anyone had advice/experience in this space and whether it be something I should look into more.
Gainesville is a perfect place for that. We have plenty of people looking for individual rooms especially college students. Depending on where it is located you could get about $400-$600 a room. Even if you did a four bedroom condo you could do the same thing. There are A couple 4/4 or 4/2 properties that make great rentals for individual room rentals that would be less than a single-family home.
If you are trying to market towards university students location is definitely going to be key. A lot of students do not have any type of transportation and rely on walking, bikes or the bus system here. Although the price of a single-family house close to the university is going to be much higher than one with a 15 min drive.
@Thomas Monge I am currently house hacking in Gainesville, FL and I know another local investor who has been doing this successfully for quite sometime. If you want to send me a private message with any specific questions you have, feel free to do so. @Jenn Barona is definitely right about the price range per room. The closer to campus, the more you can charge, but it's nearly impossible to find a property walking distance to campus that would come anywhere close to following the 1% rule. COVID-19 could be lowering those home prices soon enough though for all we know...