"MTR" or STR combined with HH

[Anthony Swain]

Hey gang!

I wanted to share my experience with my first house hack. 

When my wife and I bought our duplex, the rents were well below market ($950 & $1150). According to rentometer.com we could have reasonably expected to raise them to $1700 for 2BD/1BA after renovations. After running numbers, I decided to go the furnished rental route. There are a good amount of luxury apartments nearby, but I don't think any of them have the ability to be subleased. Many of the other nearby homes are larger, so I thought the demand would be high for a furnished 2BD. 

We got our first mid-term guest booked before our property even was finished. Haha. It was definitely a gamble, because I was assembling furniture up until the night before their check-in :o

 I only had an opportunity to advertise on FF, because it was the first place we posted and it got enough inquiries right away. In the future, after this guest I'll take the time to get professional photos and create listings for other places like Airbnb, Zillow, VRBO, etc. 

We locked in our first guest for $2,600/month, so that is already more than the previous LTR rates combined. Once, we move out of our unit, we have the flexibility to rent both as MTR or do a blend of other methods. 

If we decide to do STR (I think we will trial it), some of the best performing 2BD Airbnbs have average gross incomes of ~$49k/Year (~$4k/month).

IMO I think furnished rental house hacks have so much upside.

Is anyone else out there combining house hacking with furnished rentals? I'd love to hear your experience. 

-Ant

[Kai Kopsch]

Hey there! It's great to hear about your successful house hack experience with your STR duplex in Charlotte, NC. I have personally been involved in house hacking and furnished rentals for over five years, and it's been fascinating to see the quality of mid-term tenants we've had over the years.
However, it's worth noting that in our area, the demand for short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO has declined in the past 24 months. This is something to keep in mind as you continue to expand your rental strategy and explore different platforms.