All Forum Posts by: Parris Crockett

House hacking is the only way my hubby and I could afford houses of the size we needed (big family) and garages we needed (car guy). We parlayed up until we have a nice, paid for home and now use the line of credit on it to buy flips. It works. @Parris Crockett It also gave us a hands-on education on how to do things... 

@Parris Crockett Yes, many people have house hacked their way into investing.  If you want to kill two birds with one stone, read Scott Trench's book "Set for Life" first.  All you need is one take-away to make a book worth reading, but I think you will find quite a few if you start with his.

As far as markets go, look for one that has job growth.  You want to be in one where people are moving in, not moving out.  People follow the jobs.  And look at the unemployment rate for that city.  Google the city along with job growth and it should pull up tons of info.  Hope that helps.  

Great thought-provoking question, Parris!

There's always risk in every market, but my inflow became more stable once I started screening my tenants, contractors, and property managers. I was initially lousy at screening and received mostly lousy tenants with rare exceptions. Screening enabled me to find great long-term tenants that treat my property as if it were their own.

Yes, it requires due diligence upfront, but ultimately pays off exponentially in the long-run.