Creative house hacking?

[Seth Michael Carp]

Hi I'm Seth and I'm currently a high school senior saving up and learning for my first house hack which I plan to do in my sophomore year of college at U of O. I've noticed that Eugene seems to be more of an appreciation market than cash flow and have been struggling to find a lot of either duplexes or 5+ bed single family homes that after I'm done living in them and move to the next house hack would cash flow for. I've heard that some people when they move onto the next house hack will short term rental their original property to gain extra cash flow or even instead of just renting to roommates when  house hacking, renting out the rooms on Airbnb. I've also heard of people making the garage into a separate room and living in that and renting out the main house. My main question is, if anyone knows of creative ways to make house hacking work in a lower cash flow market. I've also heard people like David Greene say on the podcast that it's very hard to find cashflow right now and that people should focus on building equity through buying a good location like I would be in Eugene, then using that capitol to invest for cashflow later on. Is that a good idea if I were to breakeven or have low cashflow in the beginning of my real estate journey if I'm likely getting good appreciation cause I've heard him say yes and others say that good cashflow is all you should be investing for. Just looking for some help, thank you.

[Mohammed Rahman]

Hi @Seth Michael Carp - yes right now cashflow is tough and I advise my clients that appreciation should be the main goal. However, everyone is different based on what their goals are. 

I recommend first getting an idea of what you can afford either through a lender or whoever will be providing you with the funds to close, and then working your way backwards from there. 

[Dennis Nguyen]

If you're able to significantly reduce your living expenses compared to renting - then that's a win to me! Depending on where you live it's hard to cash flow. An example is where I live (Seattle). 

[Dave Skow]

@Seth Michael Carp- thanks -   as  ou  get  closer to  the  possibility of buying - make sure you hae  your  financing in place ...get pre approved  asap  as  with a loan pre approval - the next steps arent possible - good luck !