I love Scott Trench's Set for Life House Hacking mindset. Since 2009, I've owned a foreclosure-rehab turned house hack (5 BR 3 BA). I lived in 1 BR and rented out 4 BR to professional women. Every other time I've lived somewhere outside of home, I've shared with a roommate or rented a cheap bedroom in someone else's house (like $500-600/mo vs $1200+ for 1 BR 1 BA) and saved/invested the difference.

In 2016, I moved to a new state, married the love of my life and we're expecting our first baby in late May. Because his job is 1 year term-renewable, we leased a 1000 SF 1st floor 2 BR 2 BA condo for $1500 before we knew I was pregnant. I chose this larger apartment because I had initially planned to rent out the spare bed + bath for $700-800/mo, but he stopped me because he 'wanted to ensure our privacy.'

Anyway, I partnered with someone from my REIA on 2 flips and now I'm actively touring several properties a week to buy my family a rehab-fixer upper that we can live in as well as rent out part of it. (Goal: either we can sell in 2 years and get the free capital gains or we can keep the great primary residence financing and rent it anytime.)

I want to house hack. Where I live, duplexes are NOT common. Most are 'ancient' conversions of larger homes and are not very nice. When touring with investors, I have seen 0 suitable for my family. My strategy has been to look for 4+ BR 2+ BA houses in good neighborhoods that are fixer uppers / REO / foreclosures. I have found several with two entrances / split levels and a common laundry space such that I could rent 2-3 BR to another family or 2-3 professionals and earn $1500-2000/mo on a $200-250k purchase while living cheaply in the other 1000 SF of the house and having limited forced interaction with the roommates/tenants. Whenever I take my spouse to one of these 2000 SF houses, I can see money and potential, but he doesn't want me to buy. He imagines just us and our family. Why would he prefer a $1500/mo (150k-purchase cost) 2 BR 2 BA 1000 SF condo over a $250k 4 BR 2-3BA 2000 SF house where we rent out half and live for like $500/mo?

What tactics would you use with your spouse to get him or her interested in sharing a too-big house with nice people you choose that you may not even see frequently in order to pay a very low monthly net rent and maximize the ROI on your primary residence rehab? Thanks!

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