Dabbling with House Hacking

[Augustine Tambe]

Hello y’all,

I’m going to marry my fiancé in October this year. She currently lives in a studio by herself and id move in her with. Her lease ends in Jan 1st and we’d probably look for a new place.

I’ve been thinking of house hacking here in the Utah county area. I’d love to cut the cost of our rent and maybe have a profit on top.
My questions are: 
How does the market look for House Hacks at this time? What’s the best deal to look for in Utah, based on the numbers?

For reference, I’ve graduated and am working. She has 2 more years of nursing school left. Once she finishes, I don’t know how much longer we’d stay in Utah. 

thanks!

[Taylor Dasch]

Any plans to build the family within the next two years? House hacking is an awesome strategy, if the numbers keep going up you will have built equity and cash flow when you move out of there. However, at least in my market, you are still going to have to pretty much cover the rent for one side so it may actually increase living costs. If I were to do it right now, I would still try to house hack but would definitely look into staying in the studio if the rent is chheap and it would allow me the freedom to buy more investment properties. 

[Masyn Grant Barney]

Hey @Augustine Tambe!

Like @Taylor Dasch mentioned, in this market it would be very difficult to cover the full mortgage by renting one side of a house hack. Especially here in Utah. But that doesn't mean it's a made move. In fact, I think its the best move you can do if it fits your life situation. 

If it makes sense for your situation, I'd suggest finding a house that has a basement unit. Live in the basement and rent out the main floor. I am a big fan of finding a house that has 4-5 bedrooms upstairs given how much you can get in rent for those. If Eagle Mountain isn't too far, there are some new homes with AMAZING price to rent ratios for Utah. 

If you don't plan to stay in Utah beyond two years, you'd definitely want to make sure the numbers make sense to at worst break even once you move out. Most on market deals don't breakeven in that timeframe without a significant down payment. But some do, so just make sure you are planning ahead. 

I'd love to grab lunch and see if I can be a resource in anyway.