First house hack questions

[Max Pfeifer]

Hi everyone, I just put my first offer in on a duplex for a house hack! I am freshly 20 years old and am probably in over my head. I'm wondering if I should contact an accountant now to best understand how to track my expenses and how to do it? How do you or how did you track your expenses during a house hack and separate personal from rental? I feel it'll be hard to keep track of everything with half being personal and half being a rental. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated! Also in that, what is the best way to track profit/loss or cash flow on rentals. Obviously i will be "losing" money while i live in the property but just want to stay on top of it and make sure everything stays where i feel comfortable. Thanks everyone!

[Michael K Gallagher]

@Max Pfeifer there are many ways to go about it, but I kept it pretty simple.  have an email address specifically for this property.  Anything you buy or get expenses wise, snap a pic and send it to that email.  Then have a google sheets in there where you have a simple spreadsheet tracker.  

I used zillow rental manager, its free, pretty simple, but limited.  

My house hack was not "profitable" either, but in reality it was the best move we ever made, and the value is going to keep compounding for years.  Fantastic job getting in early.