House Hacking is Hard

[Andy Oshodi]

I am new to REI. I am finding it really hard to house hack with mid term rentals in the Houston market. The neighborhoods close to the medical center area are not good neighborhoods. My family cannot live around there. I have a little bit of nest egg. Should I just buy a single family home(because I presently still rent) and just find other locations for mid term rentals?

[Bonnie Low]

Hi, Andy. The neighborhood is critical so you're smart not to purchase in an area that isn't safe to live in. If you wouldn't want to live there, no traveler is going to want to live there, either. That said, the world of midterm rentals is much broader than just travel medical professionals. There are any number of reasons a person would be traveling and looking for furnished housing. In fact, although Furnished Finders has historically catered to travel nurses, searches by non-medical professionals now exceeds that of medical professionals, so the market is really changing. In other words, while renting to medical professionals can be a good niche in the right market, don't limit yourself. Look for other types of renters who aren't necessarily affiliated with hospitals or go just outside the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the hospitals and market it as a good option. For example "SAFE neighborhood only X minutes from Metro Hospital." Most travelers bring their own vehicle so they can manage a drive.