Taking the doors off of the rooms when the appraiser comes so that they aren't rooms.

In terms of the second scenario, the upside I see is the option to get a different kind of loan (say, FHA with a lower down payment and other assistance programs for K-12 educators like me) since I'd be getting a new primary residence instead of a second home.

Also remember, you aren’t creating deductions.

Also, I have dealt with 6+ Chicago evictions in one building lolI have learned that if I take all these rough experiences as a badge of honor and share them like you are, each one only makes me more equipped to be a better investor.The education & experience received in 1.5 years takes some investors 10 years! 

6 people aren't enough people to be worth saving?

Hi @Tim Holt I think in general house hacking is usually a good move because it gets you off the sidelines and into the game with the most favorable financing possible (30 year fixed).There's a lot of value in getting started today vs waiting some undefined number of years until conditions are better, which could be a long time from now, because real estate is a business and the sooner you start actually learning about that business, the better.With all that said, I always recommend that people analyze any potential house hack as a pure investment that they aren't going to live in, because someday they may want to move out and you should know up front (before you commit) whether you're going to be able to do that, or whether you're overpaying and will be stuck in the property unable to move out because it'll be cash flow negative if you do.So you had it exactly right when you wrote, "the property would need to cash flow when I move out and rent out all units."

When you first approach the homeowners about helping them out of their property, you'll want to let them know that you aren't going to save their mortgage you're just trying to give them a clean escape from having that defaulted mortgage on their credit.

If all else fails, 😀 ReSure's got extensive resources on all these subjects in our educational platform (which actually includes some plagiarizing from Michael!

If not, aren't you going to need to buy something else or are you just going to rent yourself? 

Luke - as an active investor and Realtor in mid-sized NC cities, getting 5% with today's home prices and interest rates is impressive in areas that aren't D or even C class assets/areas.