Moving to Houston. Is it easy to house hack and live for free? (West University Place: real estate, sublet)

[Brian3293]

Moving to Houston. I will be working at the medical center so I want to stay close to the rail lines. Is it easy to house hack and live for free? I am looking for a 3bedroom+ property and looking to rent out the other rooms. Is it easy to "rent hack" as well (i.e. lease a 2+ bedroom place and sublet the other rooms)?

Are there any good/safe areas near the medical center to do this or will I have to look further out in the suburbs?

If rent hacking is not probable/profitable, then please give me advice on good areas to house hack (buying my own property and renting out the rooms).

Would buying a town home in midtown/museum district and renting out the rooms work for positive cash flow? How much could I charge per room?

[txdemo]

99.9% of houses would not allow subletting.

[Brian3293]

Originally Posted by txdemo

99.9% of houses would not allow subletting.

Why do I see students do it all of the time on facebook groups for Rice?

What about house hacking? Are there any good locations to do this in good neighborhoods around the medical center area? Will I be able to find roommates who rent out single rooms in a Single family house?

[gwarnecke]

I actually did this when I previously rented a house in West University Place. Rented a 4 bedroom house and covered most of the rent by subletting 1-2 other bedrooms (mainly to grad students and foreign exchange students at Rice).

Most landlords would NOT be ok with this (now that I'm a landlord, I certainly wouldn't - there's too much that could go wrong). I only approached my landlord about doing this after I had rented solo for 6 months and shown myself to be a reliable tenant who took meticulous care of the property and would exercise good judgment in selecting housemates.

Some landlords in the TMC/Rice U area bought their house for the land, and eventually plan to tear it down and build a house for themselves. As such, they're not too particular about the condition of the house. This would probably be your best shot at finding a sublet-able property (flip side - don't expect the landlord to be willing to fix every little thing).

[Brian3293]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

I actually did this when I previously rented a house in West University Place. Rented a 4 bedroom house and covered most of the rent by subletting 1-2 other bedrooms (mainly to grad students and foreign exchange students at Rice).

Most landlords would NOT be ok with this (now that I'm a landlord, I certainly wouldn't - there's too much that could go wrong). I only approached my landlord about doing this after I had rented solo for 6 months and shown myself to be a reliable tenant who took meticulous care of the property and would exercise good judgment in selecting housemates.

Okay got it, so it seems like rent hacking would not work in the Houston area.

I am wondering if you know of any places I could purchase a property and house hack and get positive cash flow.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by Brian3293

Okay got it, so it seems like rent hacking would not work in the Houston area.

I am wondering if you know of any places I could purchase a property and house hack and get positive cash flow.

Find a neighborhood with no deed restrictions or HOA.

[Brian3293]

Originally Posted by txdemo

Find a neighborhood with no deed restrictions or HOA.

Do you guys think real estate agents can help me found a house to house hack better than I can find myself?

[77030]

I'm sure there are plenty of places where you can do this. Not sure I'd want to live there, and not sure I'd feel comfortable with the tenants you might up with. What foreign languages do you speak? How flexible are your morals. How good of a street fighter are you?

[Ghost Town]

Are other people really so stupid to let hackers live for free?

[Texascrude]

I have a good friend who built a new home in the heights ($700k+) recently. He lives in the garage apartment and rents out the main house, which covers the entirety of his mortgage. If I didn't have kids I'd be doing the same thing!