First time house hacker in PA

[Austin Woyshnar]

Hi everyone,

My name is Austin and I am a 22 year old structural engineer. I am a first time home buyer looking to house hack in the Scranton/Dunmore PA area. I'm looking for a 3-4 bedroom single unit, and I plan on living in one of the rooms so I will qualify for a FHA loan. I want to find a place that isn't a complete fixer upper but also needs some work. My main goal for my first deal is to get a hold of the buying/mortgage process so I can take on something more intense for my second deal. I've been researching for a couple of months now and I'm getting anxious to jump into my first deal. If anyone has any insight to give on my situation I'd love to hear it!

[Daniel Haberkost]

@Austin Woyshnar house hacking is a fantastic way to get started. I've been doing it myself for about 2 years and the best advice I can give is:

1.) Screen your tenants thoroughly as you would with a traditional unit. Background/credit check, income verification, talk to their boss, talk to their last two landlords, collect a security deposit, etc. 

2.) Set very clear expectations, since they're living in the house with you think through how you expect the arrangement to work and make sure that's communicated to prospective tenants prior to move in. For example, I tell all of my tenants before they move in that my major pet peeves are a dirty kitchen, noise at night and rent paid after the first. Consequently I've had no issues with any of these items 

3.) Be mindful of what you're planning to do when you buy the house. Mine is a split level with two living rooms a large deck and plenty of space. Point being it's easy for everyone to be in the house and still have their own space which is important.

4.) Pay attention to their schedules, I have one tenant who leaves at 7am, one at 9am and one at noon. They all leave at different times and get home at different times which makes things much easier as every person gets to use the kitchen alone. 

If you put the work in upfront to do this right it can be a fantastic arrangement. My house cash flows while I live in it and it's not even an inconvenience. I enjoy living with my tenants. There's no reason you can't do the same thing!