How To House Hack When You Have A Family

When I was learning how to house hack, most of the information I read was directed toward someone that was single and probably a man.

While I am a man, I wasn’t single; I was with my girlfriend (and eventually a dog). This meant that there were requirements that had to be met in order for me to feel comfortable house hacking with my girlfriend.

So, in this post, I’m going to share tips and advice on how to house hack when you have a family.

Note: The tips in this post are additional to the tips I list in the house hacking guide

Make Sure They’re OK With House Hacking

One of the first things you need to do before you even consider buying a house hack is make sure that everyone involved is on board.

When you have a family, you can’t make decisions on your own – especially if they impact your family. House hacking is a decision that affects everyone in the household.

Before you fully commit to house hacking, talk to your family about the idea. Take note of their thoughts and opinions and try not to dismiss them if they don’t align with your own.

This is a tip that I share from experience.

When I became a landlord and started house hacking, my girlfriend was not fully on board. We had agreed to purchase a house closer to family but never agreed on house hacking specifically.

She ended up becoming very busy with work. I knew she wasn’t happy where we were living and didn’t have time to continue helping look for a new place.

So, I took the decision into my own hands and chose to house hack a duplex (don’t make that mistake if you want to be a good partner).

While she was as supportive as she could be and involved in everything moving forward, she was never 100% satisfied with the situation. That contributed to us moving out of our house hack much sooner than anticipated.

Create A List Of Bare Essentials

Once everybody is on board with moving into a house hack, start working on a barebones list of everyone’s “wants and needs”.

Unlike when you’re purchasing a single-family home to live in by yourself, your list of “wants and needs” won’t be fancy. Instead of being fancy, this list should be the bare essentials needed to comfortably live in a house hack.

For example, my list of wants and needs was much different than my girlfriend’s. I would have been OK gutting/renovating a kitchen over the span of 18 months but, I can guarantee you, my girlfriend would have gone crazy and probably broken up with me.

Now, everybody isn’t going to be able to have everything on their list of wants and needs. However, once it’s written down on paper – it makes experimenting and figuring out what sacrifices have to be made much easier.

Prioritize Safety & Privacy

When house hacking by yourself, you have the option to choose higher-risk/higher-reward situations. But, when house hacking with your family – that’s not an option.

You should be prioritizing safety and privacy; if not for yourself, you should be doing it for your family.

With that said, I have 2 different recommendations for prioritizing safety and privacy when house hacking with a family:

Avoid single-family homes

Avoid house hacking single-family homes. Because you have a family, you need to provide your family with a private space to live their life. This is especially important if you have kids.

Would you want your kid’s bedroom to be right next to some stranger you’re renting a room to? What about your girlfriend or wife at home alone with some man or their guests?

Nah, that’s not “the move“.

Choose a nicer neighborhood

Choose a nice neighborhood to house hack in. This might mean spending more money upfront but the level of security you get from a nice neighborhood is worth it when you have a family.

And, as long as you analyze your house hack and it’s profitable – making less money than the geniuses on the internet isn’t a big deal.

As someone that grew up poor in “the hood” – I wouldn’t dare put my family through living in a bad neighborhood in order to make a few extra dollars. Not worth it at all.

Recommended Reading: Tips for House Hacking Safely

Check Sound Transmission Between Units

Checking the sound transmission between units is important in general.

For example, no one wants to hear anybody taking a poop.

However, when you have kids – this becomes especially important. Kids are loud and babies are even louder.

When choosing a home to house hack, if possible, test out how easy sound travels across different units. It’s much better to test the sound transmission while in the purchasing phase versus being forced to deal with it afterward.

One of the things I loved about house hacking my duplex was that the units were separated by a cinderblock wall behind the drywall. This was done for fire-blocking purposes but it did an amazing job at soundproofing.

Define Clear Rules And Guidelines In The Lease

Defining clear rules and guidelines in your lease agreements is necessary regardless if you have a family or not. But, when you have a family, having a clear lease agreement can help solve potential problems before they become a problem.

For example, how will parking work?

If you were single, you would probably have 1 vehicle. But, since you’re house hacking with your family, you might have 2 or even 3 cars. Add the vehicles your tenant (or tenants) have and you can easily reach 5-6 cars quickly.

How does that work?

What about the use of common areas like the backyard/front yard?

As a landlord, you’re responsible for repairs. I also believe you’re responsible for setting guidelines in the lease agreement that help reduce potential conflict and problems between tenants (when house hacking, you are one of the tenants).

I’ve mentioned on this blog before how I recommend hiring a CPA when house hacking, I also recommend working with a local real estate attorney to help you draft a lease that’s specific to your situation AND legally enforceable in your state.

You can bring the rules and guidelines to the “table” and your local real estate attorney can make it legally binding (or tell you if what you’re trying to accomplish is illegal).

Recommended Reading: Is House Hacking Legal?

Create An Exit Strategy

When house hacking with a family, it’s unlikely that you plan to house hack forever. Although, some longer-term house hacking benefits kick in if you choose to house hack with family instead of strangers.

But, If you’re not planning on house hacking forever, I’d recommend you think about what to do after house hacking ASAP. You don’t need a full strategy immediately but the closer you get to wanting to move – the more important it becomes.

When I was house hacking, I didn’t have an exit strategy (don’t be like me). Me and my girlfriend’s decision to move on from house hacking was fueled by a mix of emotions and the timing of another property that was in an ideal location.

We definitely could have done a much better job planning our exit strategy. Thankfully it worked out for us but it could have easily turned bad.

So, I highly recommend making an exit strategy if you choose to house hack.

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