House Hacking in Greater Boston Area

[Katarina Bishop]

Hi everyone, rookie here and my first time posting! I would love to get your thoughts on this situation. I grew up around Boston and love the area. My boyfriend and I are looking to buy a small multifamily and would like to house hack in the Greater Boston Area. I tried using the rental calculator because we would love to cash flow but it seems like to break would be a huge accomplishment. We have no issue sharing a space with others/living in one room and renting out all the others. We both have been working for two years, have good credit and no debt but are looking into a FHA loan because we don't have a ton of savings. Our question is, does this sound like an impossible task? We want to be realistic but also not have a small mindset. I really appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Quote from @Katarina Bishop:

Hi everyone, rookie here and my first time posting! I would love to get your thoughts on this situation. I grew up around Boston and love the area. My boyfriend and I are looking to buy a small multifamily and would like to house hack in the Greater Boston Area. I tried using the rental calculator because we would love to cash flow but it seems like to break would be a huge accomplishment. We have no issue sharing a space with others/living in one room and renting out all the others. We both have been working for two years, have good credit and no debt but are looking into a FHA loan because we don't have a ton of savings. Our question is, does this sound like an impossible task? We want to be realistic but also not have a small mindset. I really appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

It’s absolutely possible to find cash-flowing multis in “Greater Boston” to househack. I run a team of 30+ investor focused agents and many of them are living in Househack’s themselves. The goal is normally to “break-even”/live for free when you are living there then to have the property cashflow when you move out. The 2 strategy I normally recommend are:

1. Look for a 3-4 family with 1 smaller unit to live in that fits the FHA maximum lending guidelines (1,190,000 for a 3 family or $1,480,000 for a 4 family in Suffolk county). The remaining units should cover all or almost all of the carrying expenses.

2. Look for a 2 family with lots of bedrooms (7+). You can use a 5% conventional loan to buy it with no PMI. Live in the larger unit and rent out the extra bedrooms. Or even better find the 2 family with an ADU (3 units). Live in the “bonus unit” and rent out the other ones. In many markets this works out extremely well.

Doing this in markets like Cambridge or a Newton will be extremely difficult but we’ve successfully helped clients with these Strategies in Malden, Waltham, Framingham, Quincy, and many more. We helped over 100 people buy multis last year in MA and NH and many of them used FHA or low downpayment conventional loans. 

best of luck,

Jon