How do you house hack?

Question

I’m curious and wanna start up on house hacking

Jim K. · Answer

@Andrew Bond @Landon Bleau

I didn't start off househacking, and when I did, I made plenty of dumb mistakes doing it. But the end result is inarguably magic. Something that I see in few places in the literature is the shift to your mindset/perception that househacking brings. You go from the mind-controlled "I want to live in the most spacious and luxurious single-family home I can possibly afford because that's what successful people do" to the freethinking "I choose to be different to beat the system."

There is just enormous value in that mindset shift, especially when the rent starts coming in month after month to validate the truth of it in your expenses spreadsheet.

Landon Bleau · Answer

Andrew, make sure to check out all the BP and BP Rookie podcasts on house hacking so you get more in depth info.  On the surface level, you buy either a single family home and rent out the rooms, or buy a small multifamily between 2-4 units and you rent the other units out.  The goal is to eliminate your housing expense so you can increase your savings rate and buy other investments.  However, in more expensive markets you may not be able to completely eliminate your housing expense, but as long as you're able to cut back heavily, it's still a success.

Matthew Brill · Answer

I second what @Landon Bleau said. They general concept is to buy a property and generate income from it to offset your living expenses. There are a lot more granular details. Happy to talk more if interested.

Dan Sheeks · Answer

This is a simple answer! Read this book by @Craig Curelop!

https://store.biggerpockets.co...

@Andrew Bond

Brent Coombs · Answer

@Andrew Bond, when you say "I feel like I can do the proper job and make millions I have that mindset and I go by it every day", it looks like you expect to do so quite quickly?

I would like to remind you that buying Real Estate is not a "get rich quick" scheme.

ie. It takes time.  Time is your friend once you start on the Real Estate ladder.

"House hacking" just means that every property you buy (including residence/s you're going to live in) will have the opportunity to generate income, either to ameliorate your own living expenses, or (preferably) generating positive cash flow into your pocket (despite having mortgages against them).

ie.  As has been said, it's not rocket science.  ie.  You know enough to get started.

ie.  Buy an income-able home as soon as you have minimum deposit.  Cheers...

Matthew Brill · Answer

Jim is spot on here. I apologize if it came across as such but I was not trying to shill or promote myself. I merely am a strong proponent for house hacking for all of the exact reason elegantly stated by Jim K.

And the statement that house hacking is merely "getting roommates" perfectly shows the need for people to better understand the strategy and the granular details that go into successfully leveraging house hacking into building financial freedom.

Mike B. · Answer

@Andrew Bond

Andrew, it would help to tell us a bit more about your situation, location, investing capital, etc.  You may bet more specific responses if we knew these things

Jim K. · Answer

One of the very few times I have been in actual disagreement with you, Joe. I have no interest in making money off househacking. But when something can get ordinary middle and working-class young people to get excited about fundamentally busting free of the blinkers this society puts on them about what the American dream is and how single-family house ownership is related to it, when it can get them to take a real stand against the mind-control machine that keeps them broke all their lives, I think it's a wonderful thing. I have way too many moocows in my family and even among my closest friends getting suckered by the status quo.

Dave E. · Answer

@Andrew Bond

Do 2 minutes of research on BiggerPockets, then spend 15 minutes reading articles. There is also a book you can buy if needed. It’s not complicated.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

House hacking is just buying a house and getting roommates to help pay your mortgage and make money. That is literally the entire strategy. The only things you need to learn are how to select/manage roommates and how to plan taxes. I know there are books and websites deducted to this strategy, but that is seriously overkill. It is really just guru trying to make money.

How do you house hack?

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