I think development is getting more and more common since we're so undersupplied in housing. 

First off- $4.5M for 48 units and 50% are vacant is not a steal, unless this property is located in a downtown area and you have a contact with a developer who will pay 2X to build a high rise. $93k/unit for 50% vacancy doesn't carry hardly any debt, hence why they are capping you at $500k.

. - property had TDR trasnferable development rights and can be built 5 stories on it.

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."

Quote from @Danny Gonzalez: @Paul CijunelisSo I’m not in the IL market, but I’ve owned a PM company for 5+ years, and here are some lessons I wish I’d known when starting out:1.Hire a VA Early: If you haven’t already, bringing on a Virtual Assistant is a game changer.

PadSplit has developed a platform that aligns incentives among residents, property owners, and communities to make affordable housing possible for the private market.

Why I would agree, it would be ideal to start one ourself but to be profitable at PM it seems to be a numbers game.

Right now I house hack, but am looking to properly get in the game by end of next year, so I'm trying to be prepared.

It was those 2022 delivered  projects where I became an accidental landlord that led me to focus more attention on building to researched housing needs rather than simply replicating the inventory other's bring to the market and it's been a game changer for me and my business. 

Probably the most common mistakes made in the development business by non builder property owners.