House hacking into real estate

[Kelly Lane]

Hello BP new to the forms and new to RE investing. I've been debating on house hacking into homes because  prices of homes are just so pricey. My question is ,is house hacking dead and to live rent free no longer exist in todays market ? I'm looking at a duplex and id owner occupy it . My game plan is to buy & hold MFH to build my portfolio off appreciation due to cashflow home seems so hard for me in my market 

[Carlos Valencia]

Hello Kelly, 

House hacking is alive and well and yes depending on what market you are in it will be challenging to acquire something that will allow you to live rent free. The best way to position yourself to have better cash flow is to buy a property that is livable but needs rehab. Acquiring a property that needs rehab allows you to build that sweat equity once you rehab it. This will also allow you to rehab the property at your own pace assuming you buy it using a conventional loan. Once you are done rehabbing you can begin leasing out the property at max rents and put yourself in a better position. Make sure to do your research to see what is the max rents you can get for the property as well as what will it look like once you move out. Will you be negative or will you cashflow or break even? Its important to make sure you can break even or be very little in terms of being negative. Any amount that you are negative carries over and affect your overall Debt to income ratio. You want to make sure your debt to income ratio is available as possible to help you acquire your next house hack and you rinse and repeat until you no longer can use that strategy. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan