I think that my experience as a brand new "House-Hacker" can be beneficial to some other Newbies out there. I wanted to share what I believe are the top three surprise benefits to being a house hacker over starting with a flip, rental, or other property that investors don't live in.
Well here goes:
1) Being a homeowner is a challenge in and of itself.
As a renter, you have it pretty good (except for the financial situation thing) - you don't have to repair the clogged drain, the faucet, or the outlet that goes bad. As a homeowner, you've got to fix that all yourself.
It's not that easy. For one, I started with NO TOOLS. I probably have spent $500 or more acquiring drills, wrenches, hacksaws, plumbing and electrical equipment, shovels, a ladder, and dozens of other items that you just might not own as a sheltered, spoiled renter (like me). I'm definitely glad that I had a month to work on my own side's problems and collect a basic understanding of how houses work before having to deal with tenant problems!
2) You are there for the emergencies.
Emergencies happen - as I learned all too well in my first week of investing. Because I'm an idiot, I thought I would save some money by shutting the heat off in the other unit of my property (I live in Denver and it was bitterly cold this particular week). When I turned the heat back on to work on the kitchen in that unit, BAM - a pipe burst.
Experienced investors know to simply shut off the water and call a plumber - which I eventually ended up doing. But to me this was a wild new experience - it certainly felt like an emergency to me! I'm just glad I was there, this happened during the day, and I didn't have to deal with this problem over the phone with a tenant in a situation that I didn't have direct, and immediate control over.
In this future, this emergency and others like it, won't even be an "emergency". But as a totally green investor, I'm glad I was there.
3) I can go above and beyond the bare minimum amount of effort required for a return - it's for me!
Another thing that I personally consider an advantage to House-Hacking is that this property is more than an investment that is expected to generate a return - for the time being it is also my home!
Because it is my home, I spend a lot of time improving it. I've installed lights, I'm planting a tree (a surprisingly in-depth process that involves having the city come and paint my gas lines, water lines, etc), added some vanities that I like for my own bathroom, added a nice little rack for my hats and belts, and am looking forward to putting up a fence and painting and restoring two decrepit sheds that came with the property.
I just wanted to share my thoughts and see what other people had to say. Does anyone else experience these advantages or believe that House-Hacking has other advantages that are more subtle than the obvious financing ones?
