HouseHacking on weekends only?

[Adielle Rivera]

I’m thinking of buying my first home near my parents and live in it during the week and put it on AirB&B while I stay at my parents over the weekends to house hack. 

Has anyone done this or similar?

Was it successful?

HOA problems?

Thoughts?

[Landon Bleau]

Have you talked to your lender about your intentions with the property? Just want to make sure that they'll allow you to get an owner occupant loan with these intentions. Seems like it's a great idea though, especially since you'll get the highest occupancy and rent during the weekends. Just keep in mind restrictions such as local government and HOA, each has their own set of rules so just make sure to check thoroughly before buying!

[Brendan Miller]

@Adielle Rivera regarding the HOA, you'd just need to check that specific property's HOA CC&Rs to see if they have any restrictions on short term rentals. I'd say normally you see restrictions within condo buildings rather than SFH developments with HOAs, but it's always good to check for sure. Your agent should be able to confirm that.

[Bruce Woodruff]

Not a bad idea.....never done it, but don't see why it wouldn't work. Don't buy in an HOA. You don't want other people telling you what to do with YOUR property.

What do you do if people have a different version of 'weekend' than you do? One of my places is primarily weekends...but that can mean anything from the typical Fri - Sun, to Thurs - Sun, or Thurs - Mon, Fri - Tues, Etc......a LOT of people like to tack on an extra day for travel or whatever....

Maybe you can just list it on VRBO or wherever and see what people want? Let them decide the rental framework and you just go to your parent's when you need to....

Save up your $$ and buy another. You could make $20k a year easy....

[John Underwood]

Don't buy in an HOA neighborhood. High risk of being hassled.

You'll need to have house clean and ready for someone on Friday afternoon to be able to rent for the weekend.

Long weekends you might need to back that up to Thursday.

[Adielle Rivera]

@Landon Bleau I have spoken with my lender about these intentions. I believe as long as it’s my primary address and live in it for one year, there shouldn’t be an issue. 

Thanks! (Also, this is my first reply so I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.)

[Mike Shemp]

I would stay away from HOAs if you have intentions of possibly turning it into an STR on weekends.

Also, you should check with your insurance company to see if they cover short-term rentals.  There are some that do, but so far I haven't heard of one that provides as much coverage as the insurance companies that specialize in short-term rentals (CBiz, Proper, etc)....so if they do you'll want to see what they do cover, and what they don't cover.

Mike

[Adielle Rivera]

@Mike Shemp That's a good point about the insurance company that I'll have to keep in mind. Although the home would still be my primary home.