✦Property · 17 recordsStart house hacking

House hacking means buying a property you live in and renting out part of it: a room, a basement flat, or the other units of a small multi-unit building. This checks the numbers with realistic rent and costs, confirms the lender, local and insurance rules, buys with that plan in mind, and sets up the landlord side properly before the first tenant moves in.

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Free on any plan. You will see this list again in the app, and nothing is created until you press install.

✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

A home where rent covers part of the mortgage Month 6

Numbers checked, rules confirmed, landlord side set up properly.

Check the numbers and rules Week 6

Realistic rent and costs, before viewing anything.

  • Decide the setup: rooms, a separate unit, or a small multi-unitDo firstDay 7
  • Research realistic local rentsDo firstWeek 2
  • Speak to a lender about owner-occupier options for this setupDo firstWeek 4
  • Check local rules on renting out part of a homeDo firstWeek 4
  • Model the costs with a vacancy and repair allowanceDo firstWeek 6

Buy it Month 5

With the rental plan as part of the decision.

  • View properties with the rental setup in mindDo firstMonth 3
  • Make an offer based on the numbers, not the listingDo firstMonth 4
  • Get the right insurance quotes for renting out part of itDo firstMonth 4

Set up as a landlord Month 6

Before the first tenant, not after.

  • Write the tenancy or lodger agreementDo firstMonth 5
  • Screen tenants: references, income, identityDo firstMonth 6
  • Record the condition with dated photographs at move-inDo firstMonth 6

Routines

  • Rental adminweekly
✦ It comes with a note

The numbers

Income: realistic rent, not the highest listing Costs: mortgage, taxes, insurance, the utilities you cover, a maintenance allowance, a vacancy allowance Your own cost: what you pay to live there after the rent comes in

Compare that last number with renting somewhere similar. House hacking works when it is clearly cheaper even in a month with no tenant.

✦ Questions

Start house hacking, answered.

Buying a home to live in and renting out part of it, such as spare rooms, a basement apartment, or the other units in a duplex, triplex or fourplex. The rent covers part or all of the mortgage while you live there.
Often, because you live in the property. In the US, for example, some FHA and conventional loans allow two to four unit properties if the buyer lives in one unit. Lender rules, occupancy requirements and local laws vary, so confirm them before making an offer.
Living with or next to your tenants, less privacy, landlord responsibilities, and vacancies that leave the whole mortgage to you. Running the numbers with a vacancy and repair allowance, not the best case, is what stops it becoming stressful.
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Install it and start this evening

It takes one press. Everything it creates is tagged, so if it turns out not to suit you, it is easy to find and remove together.

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