PSA: The thing everyone seems to ignore on their journey to house hacking

[Daniel McDonald]

It's no surprise that House hacking is one of the best ways to break into real estate. I may be biased, but I'd even say it IS the best way. 

But here’s the part that doesn’t always make the Instagram reel: if your personal finances are a mess, house hacking won’t solve that—it’ll magnify it. In fact, I was better with money BEFORE I started house hacking and had to work harder at it (and still am) once I started house hacking. 

I’m talking about buying a multi-family when you don’t even know what you spent on takeout last month. Or jumping into a mortgage before you’ve ever tracked your monthly expenses. Or worse—having no savings, no budget, and thinking your tenant’s rent will fix everything.

Spoiler: it won’t.

If anything, house hacking adds new financial layers. It’s not that you need to be perfect (I'm definitely not), but you do need to be prepared. My first house hack I had a 12k surprise that nearly wiped out the money I set aside for reserves in the first 2 months of house hacking. 

So before you start scrolling Zillow and fantasizing about converting a closet into a rental unit, take the time to:

• -Build a simple budget

• -Get a handle on your credit (this will save you THOUSANDS)

• -Start a reserves fund

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. 

[Deon White]

Quote from @Daniel McDonald:

It's no surprise that House hacking is one of the best ways to break into real estate. I may be biased, but I'd even say it IS the best way. 

But here’s the part that doesn’t always make the Instagram reel: if your personal finances are a mess, house hacking won’t solve that—it’ll magnify it. In fact, I was better with money BEFORE I started house hacking and had to work harder at it (and still am) once I started house hacking. 

I’m talking about buying a multi-family when you don’t even know what you spent on takeout last month. Or jumping into a mortgage before you’ve ever tracked your monthly expenses. Or worse—having no savings, no budget, and thinking your tenant’s rent will fix everything.

Spoiler: it won’t.

If anything, house hacking adds new financial layers. It’s not that you need to be perfect (I'm definitely not), but you do need to be prepared. My first house hack I had a 12k surprise that nearly wiped out the money I set aside for reserves in the first 2 months of house hacking. 

So before you start scrolling Zillow and fantasizing about converting a closet into a rental unit, take the time to:

• -Build a simple budget

• -Get a handle on your credit (this will save you THOUSANDS)

• -Start a reserves fund

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. 

Well said! House hacking is one of the best tools out there, but it definitly doesn’t fix terrible habits.

It actually forces you to be even more disciplined since you’re now managing a home and a business. Getting your budget, credit, and reserves in straightened out beforehand is just as important as finding the right property. @Daniel McDonald