A unique situation. How would you go about it?

[Chris Skutnik]

Walking home from work today from the train station listening to a BP Podcast. I see a guy putting up for rent signs on an apartment. I walk past initially but turn around and introduce myself. Long story short, he is the owner of this 4 bed 1 bath in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn and is trying to fill a vacancy. I would classify it as a C property. He wants $2600/month in rent. Initially I thought it was the perfect house hack, given I currently pay $2300/month for a 1bed/1bath a few blocks away albeit in a brand new building. However my girlfriend is not keen on sharing a bathroom with a bunch of other strangers. She then asked me, why don’t we rent all 4 units out?! So I pose the question, is it smart to sign the lease for $2600, fill the units with tenants myself and charge more than $650/month or do I not bother? Has anyone ever done this? The owner also said he would paint the walls, put new bedroom doors in and give me until August if I am serious. He is keen on having someone who will pay the rent on time. This would give me time to get tenants lined up, leases written, etc. my question is, is it worth the hassle?

[Allan Szlafrok]

@Chris Skutnik I personally wouldn’t want to live in a situation like that. If you are looking to house hack I would look for a 2-3 family house. Hard to make the numbers work in Brooklyn where that kind of house will set you back 800k or more. I’d look at Jersey City as long as you stay near the train lines you can be in Manhattan door to door in 30 minutes or less which is roughly the same amount of time it would take you to get from Nostrand Ave to Penn Station on the subway. Decent properties near the train can be had in the 400s but there are some pricier areas as well. A lot of my tenants are people coming to me from NYC and Brooklyn because it’s the same commute and their housing costs are way less. I think it’s a great place to house hack and possibly something to consider as the downtown area has a very Brooklyn vibe.