Is House Hacking in Utah Dead?

[Logan McKay Zylstra]

Personally, house hacking has enabled me to forgo the traditional route out of college and escape W2 life (I'm not knocking traditional jobs, just not for me). However, in today's market, it will take an amazing deal or two and a lot of hard work to reap the early rewards of house hacking.

House hacking today looks different from when I started, but it doesn't mean that it's not worthwhile. As a house hacker today, you probably won't break even on your housing costs and definitely won't cashflow (you can cashflow with a BRRRR house hack or a great deal). However, that isn't the point of the house hack strategy so don't get caught up in the fact that your deal probably won't cashflow and use that as an excuse to not take action.

I believe there are two paths of house hacking in UT right now.

1. House hackers should focus on decreasing their housing costs and use their savings for other forms of real estate investing. Such as flipping, STR/MTRs, out-of-state investing, or whatever the preference of investing.

2. The other option is to buy a house hack every year or two as possible and buy and hold. Right now you are going to need to put more down to make the numbers make sense on a monthly basis, but over time you'll let rental growth, appreciation, and mortgage paydown run their course. If you house hack 2-3 times in 30 years you will have millions of dollars in equity and paid-off homes. I wouldn't recommend this strategy as a first option but if this aligns with your goals, you'll be much better off for it.

For those who are interested in what I have seen work the best locally for house hacking. 1. Renting by the room if your situation permits. 2. Mother-in-law apartments. MIL apartment properties aren't always valued for the value that they provide a homeowner. 3. The more units on a multifamily property (2-4 units), the more the numbers make sense. Meaning, fourplexes offer the best opportunity while duplexes are not as great.