House Hacking in Houston

[Donald Bastien]

Hello, I am going to be moving to Houston this July and I am planning on house hacking. I wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations as to how to go about that process if you don't have any roommates yet but are looking for some. Please and thank you!

[Katie Johnson]

@Donald Bastien I house-hacked my 3 bed/3.5 bath townhouse in the Heights area of Houston for 5 years (2016 to 2021). I lived in the master bedroom and then always rented the other two bedrooms out. This didn't cover my entire mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc. but it made it much cheaper for me to live in the Heights which is where I wanted to be at the time. The Heights is a central neighborhood that is very popular area to live for people in their 20s & 30s - lots of bars and restaurants close by.  I maybe could have rented each room out for more money per month but I preferred to have it rented out quicker rather than the room sit empty. I never had trouble finding people to rent the rooms - I posted on nextdoor, facebook, craigslist, and any other room share type site I could think of. I think it helped that everyone had their own bathroom and also an off street parking spot. The house had a two car garage and was at the back of the little grouping of 6 townhomes (inside an automatic gate) so my house had an additional spot right out front (off the street). I only had one truly bad roommate in the 5 years that I did it & I didn't renew let her renew her lease when it was up. I had some roommates that stayed for 3 years, some for 6 months, some for a year - it just kind of varied. Anyways, happy to share more details if you have any questions!