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."

They have more skin in the game then you do.Make sure you get clear title.

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.

So I require skin in the game (average is 5% to 15%) to offset this.

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. 

We added two firepits, multiple lounge areas, barbeque and eating area, stargazing chairs, yoga mats, games, large screen TV for movie nights, music and more.

@David ShirtsIn my experience, seller financing can be a game-changer, especially for properties with clear titles or when traditional loans aren't an option.

I've tried a couple - truepeoplesearch, white-ages, property radar, leadsherpa, batch leads...Some services are better than others, but it is a numbers game and you also can cross check between different platforms.

It's hard to speak in such broad terms - one man's "cashflow" is another man's vacancy reserve, so whether you can pull it off or not will be somewhat determined by how optimistic you're willing to be.

In Seattle, I am not going to play games as a landlord whether I am right or wrong.