Looking for Househacking Advice..

[Jason Ruello]

I live In New york and I'm looking to start my REI via househack. Being that this is all New to me, the one thing that worries me is landlording. Having the emergency funds for random repairs and so on is my biggest concern. I know you cant put a number on it, but roughly hiw much should be put aside for just in case scenarios? Is this a ridiculous question? I'm open to any and all advice. Thanks ahead of time for anyone willing to help. - Jason

[Will Fraser]

Hi @Jason Ruello, welcome to the BiggerPockets forums!  You're right to say that there is no one-size-fits-all number, so buckle up for hearing anything and everything.  

There's an argument to be made for a sliding scale depending on the age of the home and the condition of the systems.  Your greatest liabilities in the home are likely to be the roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, heating and air, and windows.  Al of these have a normal lifecycle, and if you are purchasing a place that is on year 1 for all of these lifecycles you're probably safe having a few months of operating expenses in an emergency fund. 

If you are late in the cycle for several of these, you'll want to have access to some amount of capital that will be sufficient to float the inevitable replacement of these items.