Stuck In Lease Until July 2021, Should I househack or get rental

[Benjamin Sussman]

Currently sitting on $60k in Cash. My lease doesn't end until July 1st, 2021. Didn't discover bigger pockets/the concept of house hacking until I was in my lease. Should I keep growing my cash reserves and wait until my lease is up to house hack as my first real estate investment? Seems like the most logical step but I don't want to wait 9 months to grow my real estate portfolio. Or should I get started now, get a rental property, and also keep saving from my job to house hack when my lease is up in 9 months?

[Sam Lewis]

I was caught in a similar situation. Had way less cash but my lease was ending in August and I wanted out in February. So I asked the landlord if I could sublet and I found someone to sublet my lease.

You may have to sacrifice the deposit for your current living situation, but at the end of the day - if you can stomach a down payment for an owner occupied home *which can be as little as 3% down* and make money renting rooms or the other unit, why the hell not?