Hello - Looking to Acquire and Operate Co-Living House Hack near Chicago, IL

[Joshua Rule]

Hi!

I am currently based in Oakland, CA but am planning a move to the near north and west suburbs of Chicago, IL in 6–12 months. I am working to acquire and operate a co-living house hack modeled after those run by Miller McSwain, Sam Wegert, and Grant Shipman. Even more specifically, I want to acquire a property with two separate buildings (e.g. SFH + SFH or SFH + ADU / coach house), live in one with my family of four, and operate the other as a co-living house. My wife and I are getting involved in real estate after a decade or more of pursuing financial independence using non-real-estate strategies, primarily investing in index funds. I'm a recovering academic, and leaving that field has finally opened up some bandwidth to explore real estate. House hacking seems like a powerful way to offset housing costs, and co-living seems like a viable strategy for improving cash flow.

I'm joining BiggerPockets to connect with people who are a few steps ahead of me, learn what I can, and contribute to the community. On that note:

- I'd love to connect with anyone who is operating a residential-scale co-living property (bonus if it's in the Midwest and double bonus if it's in Chicagoland!) or otherwise connected to the co-living world.

- Based on what I've seen so far, the kind of property I'm looking for is rare, which is one reason I'm not expecting to close until the end of this year or early next year. If you happen to know of something that might fit, please don't hesitate to reach out!

- I'd appreciate a discussion about whether combining house hacking, co-living, and an ADU in this way could work in the Chicago suburbs, and if so, how you see it working.

Looking forward to connecting,

Josh

[John Warren]

@Joshua Rule welcome to the forums! Where in the western suburbs are you looking to purchase? There are definitely coach houses in some of the urban core suburbs like Oak Park, Forest Park, etc. Are you hoping to live in the coach house and operate the main house as a coach house? 

Your strategy is possible for sure. I would say these properties are few and far between, but not exactly rare. I have sold a handful of them, and even recently sold an older 2 flat in Oak Park that had a 5-bedroom coach house. They exist for sure!