Do I have to compromise numbers to house hack? Twin Cities MN

[Sevy Bialke]

Hi all,

I'm very interested in house hacking a small multifamily (I currently live in a sfh and rent out another sfh). I'm conservative by nature and understand the statistics of having to sift through many homes, offers, and deals to the find the right one while sticking to my guns on my criteria. However the timing of my purchase is constrained by whenever my employer decides to move me back to MN in the spring. This will make me a "motivated purchaser" which I fear will force me into purchasing the "best deal I can find" compared to "the right deal."

I have 2 kids under 2, 2 60lb dogs, and a wife that doesn't see the glamour of living in a smf. As much as I want to be thrifty owner/investor, I also don't want to be "that tenant" to my neighbors nor put an undue strain on my family for purely financial reasons. I'm personally open to renting short term or even moving in with my parents for 1-2 months (the upside of having 2 grandkids they currently don't see often due to distance) but with a wife that hates moving once let alone twice in a 3 month period, I'm also hesitant going down this path.

Will I have to compromise on my numbers to make this work? Any suggestions or tips on making this work?

My unrealistic ideal scenario: find a vacant 2 or 3 unit smf that has one unit in decent shape. We move into that unit, I do the repairs personally on the others, move into one of the others to finish rehabbing the first unit, rent them all out and move on to the next home. I realize rehabbing myself isn't scaleable, but it helps mitigate my risk initially by keeping my capital investment down and the house hacking portion means my "investment holding costs" are minimal or 0 because they are absorbed into my primary living expenses.