Advice for a successful first house hack

[Colton Schrader]

Hey BP community, 

I'm a new investor that just recently graduated college and have been storing money for a house hack for about 6 months now. I was wondering if you guys have any advice or tips on a successful house hack. I'm going to be starting the preapproval process in the next few weeks. My goal is to purchase a duplex or more than likely a single family with an ADU in the Dallas area and live for as close to free as possible. I know this might be difficult with rates like they are right now but I was thinking about living in the ADU and renting out the main unit (not sure if this is against any rules). I also might rent out a room if space allows. The goal is to be able to cash flow when I move out after a year. I'm planning on financing it through a FHA or potentially a 5% down Fannie Mae loan. I just read in an article that ADU's can now allow borrowers to use 75% of the estimated rental income from and existing ADU to qualify for a mortgage which may help with helping me get approved for more. Have yall heard about this new policy? Thoughts on my plan or problems I might run across or advice from other house hackers would be super appreciated!!

Big questions I have

Fannie mae vs FHA loan?

Favorite markets in the DFW area or ways to analyze?

and rules regarding living in the main unit vs the ADU and which ones you can rent out?

[Ryan Thomson]

Also, I want to make sure I make this point. You mentioned wanting cashflow when you move out in a year. 

I wonder if your criteria may be a little unrealistic for the current market.

House hacking is tough to cashflow in year one (with current house price run-ups and interest rates) for a couple reasons:

1. You are living in one of the rentable units

2. You are only putting 5% down so your loan amount is much larger and therefore your mortgage payment.

Cashflow is tough when you move out because prices doubled since 2015 (at least in Colorado Springs) and interest rates have tripled in a year. Cashflowing within the first couple years is somewhat of an anomaly due to the low interest rates of the last couple years.

I would consider your net worth ROI. What I mean by this is considering how much your down payment returns to your net worth (appreciation, loan paydown, tax benefits, AND rent avoidance). Don't forget to include rent avoidance in your numbers! You have to live somewhere.

Don’t throw away getting a good investment now because you can’t yet scale to number two. If interest rates come back down, your numbers will look a lot better and scaling might be possible. If they don’t, you’ll be glad you bought since you are avoiding rent and cashing in on loan paydown and leveraged appreciation.