Looking for Advice on House Hacking After Kids Move Out

Looking for Advice on House Hacking After Kids Move Out

Ben BondPro Member
Investor · Kansas City · Member since 2025 · 3 posts · 1 vote

Hi everyone!

My wife and I are thinking about house hacking now that our youngest is graduating soon and heading off. We currently live in a comfortable home and are open to renting it out, either as a traditional rental or as corporate housing (though we need more info on the corporate housing side of things). We're also considering both single-family homes (SFR) or 2-4 unit properties, with the plan to live in one unit for a year and then purchase another property.

Here are a few things we’re working through:

  • We’ll need to downsize and store some items — any tips or advice on this process?

  • We’d like to stay in the same general area. 

  • When renting out our home, we’re torn thinking of renting it traditional, long term and/or corporate housing. For those who have done corporate housing, is it a good fit for a situation like ours? 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car, reverse ranch. What are the key differences we should be aware of when deciding between the two?

  • How did you manage the transition from a family home to a rental property? Any advice on things you wish you had known before starting the process?

We’d love to hear about any experiences, tips, or things we should consider that we might not have thought of yet.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

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  • Michael K GallagherBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus OH · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    @Ben Bond welcome to the forums and I love that you are thinking like this.  Its a great way to leverage the best loan products out there.  

    If I understand correctly you are considering moving out of your current single family home and turning it into a rental.  You are then planning to downsize and purchase I assume a multi family property to live in one unit?  If correct than I have the following thoughts:

    - I know I have a lot of crap still at my parents house so for your first point I'm thinking making your kids actually get there stuff out of there is going to fix most of that.  Otherwise Yardsale it.

    - "same general area" if you are considering this distance wise then you may have more flexibility than trying to stay in say the same school district, but if thats the tenant pool you are going after it could be strategic also.

    - if you do LTR or corporate housing I think is up to what you want to deal with management wise. If it were me I'd spend some time up front finding a well qualified tenant that wants to sign a long term lease with automatic rent increases built it.  I'd have them pay all utilities and have them do all the lawn and snow.  That way its the most passive, you don't need a manager at that point, and you basically don't touch it again for several years ideally.

  • Ben BondPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Kansas City · Member since 2025 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    1y

    @Michael K Gallagher Thank you Michael. Yes, we will live in a multi family or SFR for a year then buy again with the goal of buying several properties.

  • Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    1y

    Happy to connect and sit down. 

    For clearing items we started with small/random things we didn't use and got rid of those. Slowly decluttering and selling stuff. You can always buy another item so don't be afraid to get rid of stuff. If you haven't used it in awhile or barely use it, you don't need it. If there is excess you can get a small storage unit but that's an added expense. Where is your property at in KC? Depending on where it's at it can be ideal candidate for MTR/STR.

  • Ben BondPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Kansas City · Member since 2025 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    1y

    @Caleb Brown Thank you. It is in the Liberty area.

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