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Updated over 4 years ago on . Most recent reply
House Hacking in Austin, TX Area. Will this work?
Hi All, I'm looking to purchase my first property and house hack in the coming months! I'm trying to determine quite a few things, and would appreciate any and all insights.
1. I'm looking to house hack in the Austin, TX, area, and am specifically looking around Kyle, TX and Leander, TX (and Manor TX maybe?). Would I be able to get renters in these areas pretty easily? I've been told by my realtor it's a ways out of Austin and so people are less likely to go for it and commute as individuals (as opposed to families), but I feel like it would allow me to offer more affordable rents, to maybe recent college grads? I'm thinking around $600-$700 per bedroom, with maybe 2-3 people sharing a bathroom. Do you think I'll be able to get people? And is any one of those suburbs better or worse than the others for that purpose?
2. How many bedrooms is too many bedrooms? Of course, looking purely at the numbers, more bedrooms seems to make sense. The more bedrooms I get, the less I'm paying per bedroom, driving down my rent and mortgage. But would I be able to rent out a 6-bedroom house without running into issues? I'm thinking possibly I could build in a second "kitchen" with like a microwave, toaster oven etc. to alleviate any high kitchen demand with too many people.
I'm a new Pro and this is my first post, but I'm glad to be a part of the community and to be moving forward on my first investment! Thanks all!
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Congrats on the first post @Dave Kay! Your Realtor is correct, the further out you travel the less effective a rent by the room model for house hacking becomes. However, for the right price, it can still be a viable model. For the areas, Kyle and Manor have strong renter pools, I prefer Manor if you can get a nice house there. Leander is my favorite of the areas you picked overall, but the rent by the room model there may be a bit more challenging. What price point are you considering for purchase in the Austin MSA?