House Hacking in DMV: Rent-by-room vs Traditional Multifamily

[Ahmed Seck]

Hello BP family! My name is Ahmed Seck and I am an aspiring 20 year old entrepreneur in Maryland. After reading a plethora of  books and listening to countless BP podcasts, I am ready to take ACTION! My goal is to acquire my first House Hack before September 10, 2020. I am currently at a crossroads in deciding whether to pursue a traditional house hack (duplex, triplex, fourplex) or the Rent-by-the-room strategy (Single Family Residence). I would love to hear the opinions and insights from investors in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) areas as to which house hacking strategy they have had the most successes with in the DMV as well as any tips and warnings for new investors starting out. I’d appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you in advance!

[Tom Hacku]

@Ahmed Seck I'd say look at it from a "getting tenants" perspective. With the single family home, I would imagine there is a smaller population of people that would want to rent by the room. Your target demographic might be young professionals or people around your age (early 20's). With a multi family property, your tenants will have their own space which will cast a wider net for potential tenants, from empty nesters to couples looking to rent. But if you know young professionals or have friends that would be interested in renting a room with you then that could definitely be a viable option. I think podcast episode 352 had some good info on the single family house hack. But multi family properties may be more expensive and harder to come by in your area too. I'm new to the Richmond, VA area but based on what I've seen online that seems to be the case. I'd love to hear from someone that tells me otherwise though!

But bottom line, I don't think it matters which strategy you use, obviously there's pros and cons to both. More importantly, do whatever you have to do to just get started and I'm sure you'll figure it out along the way. Worst case scenario you learn something.