Considering house hacking a duplex/quadplex in Maryland — how did you run the numbers

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Russell BrazilBusiness Member
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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
3mo
Quote from @Christopher Newman:

 Look at what you're paying in rent. Look at what it costs to own the house and house hack. No need to make it overly complicated 

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  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    3mo
    Quote from @Christopher Newman:

     Look at what you're paying in rent. Look at what it costs to own the house and house hack. No need to make it overly complicated 

    [email protected]301-893-4635Podcast Guest on Show #192
    District Invest Group545 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    3Reply
    • Christopher Newman
      OP
      New to Real Estate · MD · Member since 2026 · 4 posts · 2 votes
      3mo

      @Russell Brazil 

      That’s a good point, for someone who’s done it before it probably does feel straightforward. When you were doing it for the first time though, did it feel that simple? Or did it take a while to figure out what numbers actually mattered and where to get them from?

      0Reply
  • Caleb Brown
    Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    3mo

    One thing I always recommend is running the numbers twice.

    First, run them with you occupying one of the units (when you are living in the property). Then run them again assuming you've moved out and all units are rented at market rates. Use gross rents and then subtract expenses and vacancies. 

    1Reply
    • Christopher Newman
      OP
      New to Real Estate · MD · Member since 2026 · 4 posts · 2 votes
      3mo

      @Caleb Brown 

      Yeah definitely, running it both ways to see the full picture and to make sure I'm getting a good deal. Quick question though, when you were doing this for the first time did you have a tool or spreadsheet that made this easy, or were you building the two scenarios out manually from scratch? And did it feel straightforward or was there a learning curve figuring out what numbers to use?

      0Reply
  • Minho Lee
    Real Estate Agent · Worcester, MA · Member since 2026 · 114 posts · 54 votes
    3mo

    When I'm running the numbers, I like to be very conservative with my assumptions, especially when it comes to CapEx, vacancy, repairs, and other operating expenses. I'd rather underwrite conservatively and be pleasantly surprised than overestimate a property's performance.

    I personally use BiggerPockets' calculator, and it's been a great tool for analyzing deals.

    1Reply
    • Christopher Newman
      OP
      New to Real Estate · MD · Member since 2026 · 4 posts · 2 votes
      3mo

      @Minho Lee 

      Really helpful. Conservative underwriting on CapEx and vacancy is something I keep hearing makes a big difference on whether a deal actually holds up. I’ve looked at the BiggerPockets calculator just a little bit. Does it handle the house hack scenario well for you or just in general handle well for you?, like modeling it both as owner-occupied and then fully rented? That two-phase analysis seems like where it gets more complicated than a standard rental property calc.

      1Reply
    • Minho Lee
      Real Estate Agent · Worcester, MA · Member since 2026 · 114 posts · 54 votes
      3mo
      Quote from @Christopher Newman:

      @Minho Lee 

      Really helpful. Conservative underwriting on CapEx and vacancy is something I keep hearing makes a big difference on whether a deal actually holds up. I've looked at the BiggerPockets calculator just a little bit. Does it handle the house hack scenario well for you or just in general handle well for you?, like modeling it both as owner-occupied and then fully rented? That two-phase analysis seems like where it gets more complicated than a standard rental property calc.

      Yeah, that's a great question. I use BiggerPockets' calculator for both the owner-occupied scenario and the fully rented scenario, similar to what Caleb mentioned in his reply.

      It generates two separate reports, so you can see how the numbers look while you're house hacking and how the property performs once you move out and rent all of the units.

      0Reply
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