When I was young I had plenty of room mates. The term house hack didn't exist back then. None of us made much money and it's just how we could all afford rent. At 42 I bought a duplex to help pay the mortgage (house hack still wasn't a term then). I am 56 now and still live in the same duplex. My tenants pay the mortgage and I live for free. I was able to buy a second house that I am doing a short term rental in. It is doing well and have plans for an ADU this year for a second STR.
I got into house hacking by happenstance before I had ever heard the term. A buddy's lease was expiring and needed a place to live, so I rented out a room. I figured why not rent the other one too. Rent from both rooms covered my full mortgage plus some. This allowed me to pay off student loans, a car loan, other random consumer debt, save an emergency fund, and save for an engagement ring.
Knowing what I know now, I would have started earlier and bought a new primary residence every year or 2 continuing to house hack (at least for a few years) leaving a wake of long term rentals in the suburbs behind me.
Hey im 16 and trying to learn about real estate.My plan is to learn about the business but I also want to make some money on the way.Can you give me any advice on making money at my age?
When I was young I had plenty of room mates. The term house hack didn't exist back then. None of us made much money and it's just how we could all afford rent. At 42 I bought a duplex to help pay the mortgage (house hack still wasn't a term then). I am 56 now and still live in the same duplex. My tenants pay the mortgage and I live for free. I was able to buy a second house that I am doing a short term rental in. It is doing well and have plans for an ADU this year for a second STR.
My first house hack was a fixer condo here in Los Angeles. Bought it, fixed it up, and got a roommate. Two years later, my roommate moved out, I lived alone for a quick minute and then got a HELOC and my then fiancé and I bought a second house hack with the FHA 203(k) loan. Rented out the condo for four years and when my tenants moved out I sold it, got a HELOC on my new house hack, and did a 1031 exchange along with a business partner and we bought a fourplex out of state and then on my own bought a triplex where I did the BRRRR strategy. I've been slowly growing since.
My wife and I just bought our first home to house hack. It is a single family home with a finished basement that was already converted into an apartment with a small kitchen and full bathroom. They built it out themselves so a family member could live there. We made a few minor adjustments to separate it completely from upstairs access and offer more privacy. We have someone moving in at the end of this month. Upstairs is a 3b 2ba and we also rent a room to my brother. We are collecting enough rent to pay about 2/3 the mortgage that way, excluding utilities.
Bought my first house thanks to house hacking. Single family home with an "in-law" floor plan. Close the door to the main house and rent the master bed on Airbnb as a studio. Besides closing the door to the house, we added a mini split for temperature control and a entrance from outside for full privacy. Recently, we added a fence in the backyard for even more privacy. We get about 75% of our PITI so we are glad we did it! now we just moved and rent the other part of the house also and it's been great, cash flowing so far.