House Hacking: Does My Profession Disqualify Me?

[Michael A Silva-Sampaio]

Hello all, I have been thinking of doing a house hack for some time now but I am not sure if my profession disqualifies me since I travel for most of the year. In order to house hack, do I have to physically be present in the home for a minimum amount of time or can I simply claim a room to myself while I rent out the other areas of the home? I am married and I also own another home that I return to when not traveling for work. This new property that I’m interested in buying would technically be my new primary residence but I don’t plan on staying there all to often in the traditional sense since I cannot live in the same city that I work in to receive tax benefits on my salary. My wife would keep per primary residence at our current home. I definitely want to avoid breaking any laws or to even have my integrity questioned; I just want to make sure that I don’t miss out on an opportunity to invest. I currently rent Airbnb’s or hotels in the cities I work in for two to six months at a time before moving on to the next job site. Thank you all in advance. 

[JD Martin]

If you don't file a joint tax return you don't have to both have the same primary, but if both are in the same city you will be asking for trouble from the IRS. If there's some reasonable distance between them that makes sense you might pull it off.