House Hacking Advice

[Gary Neely]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question for you experienced investors/house hackers concerning renting out a basement area and city ordinances. I am looking to purchase a property and rent out the one I'm currently living in. I would like to purchase a property that I can do some house hacking but I'm too old(irritable) to not have my own privacy :). So I was thinking of purchasing a place that has a kitchen, bath, and bedroom in the basement. I would stay in it for about two years because I can go VA for no money down, then rent out the top portion and purchase another place. I had it in my head that this was a good strategy to get started in RE investing but I'm finding that many of the cities that I would consider purchasing in, do not allow a basement to be rented out if the house is a single family home. So I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue and if so, how did you overcome the issue? I have looked into duplexes, which I know would solve this, but there's not many in the areas that I would choose to purchase in and when there are, they go super quickly. Thank you for your advice and time.

Gary

[Delwyn A.]

Every area has their own regulations, so I would definitely check. However, I don't see an issue with you living in the basement apartment yourself and renting out the top portion. If you have a livable basement and you're renting out the part of the home that you're "allowed" to rent out, I'm not sure there would be any issue.