Describe your first Househack. Success? Failure? SFH? MFH?

[Kyle Curtin]

Hi everybody! I am very carefully reading Craig Curelop's book "The Househacking Strategy" from Bigger pockets and am looking to own my first househack by 2 years from now. I would love to hear everyone's stories from their first househack!

[Pat Tobin]

Purchased a 6 bedroom 4.5 bath SFH in last summer to attempt a house hack and to get more experience as a landlord. I'm sure Craig Curelop's book is great (I wish I had it back in August) but there are things that many people here on BP and Reddit don't really talk about or gloss over. Biggest advice is know what you're getting into and make sure you can trade comfortability/profitability. It was nerve wracking at first with advertising, renting, legal, etc etc but I'm cash flowing above the mortgage quite a bit. It's a good amount of people in the house so you definitely will be stressed/annoyed at times but a rock solid lease and a rules addendum for every area in the house where you could see conflict or issues is mandatory for your peace of mind. Be ready to treat it like a business. Just had my first "I want to leave, I don't like the guy I'm sharing a bathroom with" conversation and you gotta be ready to tell the tenant the lease is a binding agreement. Honestly, I think that is my biggest saving grace. My local apartment association supplied me with the lease and you'd be surprised what they've had to deal with and it shows in the lease. In six months, I've seen some weird things, had some disturbing moments, and you'd be suprised how "interesting" people really are. It's not what I consider totally passive income yet but I am living for free and it's a stepping stone to something down the road if I choose to move out. Good luck!