The housing markets seems crazy now but it may be as good of a time as any to reevaluate what you’re doing for housing. Should you keep renting? Should you sell your house? Should you move to a lower cost of living area (maybe with your new found remote job) and buy something? I think many people are asking themselves these questions.
I was listening to a stressed caller on the Dave Ramsey Podcast explain that her rent was now over 50% of her take home pay. She was making 40k gross working at an insurance call center near Phoenix, AZ. She didn’t want to go too far away because of her child’s father, her family, and questions over certain surrounding areas’ safety. This type of story seems to be becoming more and more common, fears of inflation and stressed out over what to do to get some breathing room.
Stories like these make me feel very grateful that I discovered house hacking when I did. “House Hacking” is when you use your primary residence also as an investment, through renting room(s) out to offset one’s normal living costs. It allowed me to greatly lower my living expenses, create a more robust life, and put those savings into passion projects that will hopefully flourish into something great down the line. I’m a huge fan of house hacking. I know it’s not for everyone but think everyone can learn something from the concept. If nothing else, it can at least give you a moment to pause and evaluate whether certain things are needs… or just wants.
Todd Chistensen, of The Money Fit Show, was nice enough to let me come on and describe my experience with house hacking. We explore the good and beneficial knock-on effects, like learning more about real estate as well as the bad, like hours spent cleaning the pool and having to go to a mediation.
Listen to the show: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7y3hNjOzk9CzYeDL8KdAWP
If you want to get connected with cool people like Todd, whether you’re a host or a guest, Podmatch has been the best I’ve experienced thus far: https://podmatch.com/signup/mbb