House Hacking with Muliplexes

[Colin Courtney]

Has anyone here had any experience with house-hacking via multiplexes? I really like the idea, but I'd like to hear pros/cons from people who have actually done it before. I also have a large family (5 kids!) so square footage could potentially be an issue at play.

[Andrew Terrell]

Hey Colin, 

I have been house-hacking a duplex for the last three years, and I just submitted an offer on another duplex (that I plan to house-hack) this morning! My experience has been great so far! I inherited a tenant (they have been awesome!) I know a lot of people have had bad experiences with inherited tenants. I guess I just got lucky. 

The rent from my tenant nearly covers my whole PITI (Principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) payment. I also have a roommate, so between the two rental income sources I do cover my full PITI payment and then some. There was quite a bit of delayed maintenance that was required to my side (a little over 20K total), but luckily the tenants side has not needed much work. Each side is 3 bed, 2 bath, with a 2 car garage. House-hacking has allowed me to live for free, save money to purchase more properties, give me landlord experience, and allowed me to try my hand at performing maintenance/run a flip. I touched almost every system on my side of the property. I did some of the work, but hired all the major stuff out. Here is a breakdown: full kitchen remodel, new heater/AC unit/ducting, all the sheetrock in the ceiling was replaced (bad roof had caused leaking, so it was easier to replace it all), new lightng throughout (can-styled LED lights), ceiling fans, and some other electrical work, painted interior/exterior, and tuck/pointing to a few areas of the brick facade. The seller replaced the roof over both units before we closed too.

I am a single guy, so I did not have to worry about finding a large place. Most 2-4 unit multi-familys that I have seen here in the Oklahoma City metro are 800-1500 sq feet. For a single guy it is great, but I could see it causing problems for a family, especially a familiy of 5! I have no idea what the average unit size, or bed/bath numbers are like in your market, though.

I may have given you too much information so below you will find a quick pro/con list.

Pro: lived for free

gained landlord experience

gained rehab/flip experince (from a hands on, and Project Management perspective)

have a great rental when I move out ( I will cash flow over $150 a door after accounting for PITI, maintenance, vacancy, and Property management when I leave)

It is less than 5 miles to work

Close to economic anchors (community college, military base, and downtown OKC) 

Cons:  Not the best town in the OKC metro (the street is safe, and so is the town, just not my forever area).

            Size of units (if you arent single this could be problematic)

            From my experience multis that make sense from a numbers perspective are generally not in the most desired, or                  affluent areas or towns

That's all I can think of right now. If I come up with more, I will add a comment. Hope this helps, and good luck!!