First-Time Homeowner in State College, PA!

[Jordan Caffrey]

Hey everybody,

My wife and I are first-time homeowners in State College, PA, and she's starting to warm up to the idea of house hacking. We just bought a Cape Cod style home in Pine Grove Mills, PA (~10 minutes from Penn State University). The master bed and bath are upstairs, and we have a finished basement. The main level has a newly renovated kitchen, 2 guest bedrooms, and a full bath. 

I've been listening to a lot of bigger pockets podcasts, reading some forums and books, and I've become obsessed with the idea of house hacking. I'm 24, and am consistently being told how getting into rental properties is more of a headache than anything else. I want to give it a shot and start off on the right foot! 

I'm tossing around the idea of renting out 1 of the rooms in my house to a single tenant, or renting the entire first floor for football weekends. There are 7 home football weekends in total. If I were to rent to a single tenant I'd probably be able to charge somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 a month. However, if I went the Airbnb route, I'd be able to rent out the main floor of my house for about $1000-$1500 a weekend (football weekends are crazy). 

I'm leaning towards football weekends right now, but I'm sure there are a lot of things to consider before using Airbnb, and that's where I'm looking for some guidance...

What are the tax repercussions? How much does Airbnb take? What are the downsides of Airbnb? Does this sound realistic? Etc..

Also, if there is anyone in the State College area that has experience with renting for football weekends, I'd love to hear about your experience!