House hacking through Airbnb

[Mihir Bhimaraju]

Hello BPers!

I was initially hesitant to post this as I was contemplating whether this is a success story yet, but I'll let the BP world to decide. I'm sure everyone has a story on how they came across BP and here's mine.

About me- I'm an engineer by profession and based out of Indianapolis. I bought my primary residence 2 yrs ago and I've had spare bedrooms so I decided to give Airbnb a try. 

I've had an out of state investor from California stay with me and we got talking about investments ( that's my fav topic) and that's how I came across BP. He suggested my rental to his investor friends and I got more and more folks to stay with me.

Long story short, doing airbnb on my primary residence has not only helped me connect with great minds, socialize and share stories and give me a chance to host some wonderful folks, but it also helped in mortgage payments, provide additional cash to invest in rentals and also provide tax breaks. 

Though airbnb-house hack isn't for everyone, I'd like to point out the benefits.

1) Higher rate of return than a monthly rental.

2) Flexibility on whether to host or block dates.

3) Help with mortgage payments.

4) Re-invest additional cash in home improvement which helps in appreciating property value.

5) Tax Benefits

Here's a snippet of how I used the spare change to renovate the family room( pardon my poor photography skills). I'm not sure if this is the best strategy for everyone, but this is A STRATEGY that folks can try. I'm interested to hear your thoughts!