House Hacking

House hacking involves purchasing a multi-family property (2-4 units) or a single-family home with extra rooms, living in one part, and renting out the others. This strategy is the gold standard for beginners because it allows you to utilize FHA or conventional owner-occupant financing, which requires significantly lower down payments than investment properties. By having tenants cover the majority of your mortgage, you drastically reduce your living expenses while building equity and learning the fundamentals of property management in a controlled, low-risk environment.