First Investment - House Hack - HELP

[Cody Godfrey]

I need some advise from other experienced investors that might’ve started their investing career with house hacking.

My wife and I are close to agreeing on getting a duplex under contract in a good market. We would live in the smaller of the two sides and rent the other side out for 1000 a month. It’s a 2 bed 1 bath that could pretty easily be converted to a 3 bed 2 bath unit and rent for around 1400. The side we would be living in is a 2 bed 1 bath with a finished basement and could rent for 950-975. The purchase price would be $212,000 and the seller would be paying 3% of closing costs.

My question is, obviously at that price this isn't a property that we will cash flow on while living there but, we would gain landlord experience and live cheaper than renting. I calculated roughly sending 800-900 per month after all expenses such as all utilities, PITI, repairs, etc.

Is it worth losing a little money each month to live in a nice house that we actually own as opposed to renting? We would obviously live cheaper than renting somewhere.

Also, upon us moving out of the duplex I estimated we could cash flow anywhere from 200-600 per month depending on if I kept a two bedroom or converted it to three.

Any input is greatly appreciated!!!