Ideal square footage for house hacking?

[Lauren Sherer]

Hey Bp!

My boyfriend and I are planning to buy a SFH outside of Denver, CO this year to house hack. Our plan is to live upstairs with a potential roommate and have a separate entrance to the basement for a STR. We'll be looking for a house that needs cosmetic fixes only.

The plan is to live in this house for one year then move out and rent it out as a LTR, buy another property and repeat the process. In order to keep turnover costs to a minimum between renters, what size range of square footage would you recommend staying in between?

[John Walter]

Thanks @Jonathan Greene

Hi @Lauren Sherer Which area are you looking for? I see you're from Boulder. As you probably already know, laws in Boulder are very friendly toward roommates since the university is right there (Go Buffs). I believe in Boulder, you can have up to nine unrelated adults living in the same property; however, that number changes depending on the city.

Square footage really shouldn't be your biggest concern if you are planning on turning this into a rental either way. Everyone's wants/needs are different. Layout is much more critical. If you're against looking for multi's try looking for homes with dual mother-in-law suites. The first property I went to buy was a two-bed, two bath where both rooms were essentially the master. This layout worked great when renting to others because we felt we had our own space and they had theirs.

If you have any specific questions though, feel free to let me know.