Hub

Financing

Owner-occupant financing is the mechanism that makes house hacking possible for most people — loan programs built for someone who's going to live in the property, with down payments as low as roughly 3–5%, against the 15–25%+ an investor would need to put down on the same building. It's the single biggest reason this works better as a first move than jumping straight into buying a standalone rental.

This hub covers the practical side: what to actually ask a lender before you fall in love with a property, how rental income from the space you're planning to rent gets counted toward qualifying, and loan-specific paths like FHA 203k for a property that needs work built into the purchase.

It also covers two situations that change the math — buying on one income, and funding a second property once the first one is working. Financing details shift with rates, guidelines, and your specific lender, so treat these as the questions to bring to a real conversation, not a substitute for one.

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Why Owner-Occupant Loans Are the Whole Reason House Hacking Works

Smaller down payments, better rates, and easier qualification — how owner-occupant financing makes house hacking possible, and what happens when you move out.

What to Ask a Lender Before You Look at Houses

The questions that determine what you can actually buy — down payment, rental income in qualifying, occupancy rules, and what happens when you move out.

Using Rental Income to Qualify — and Why It Works on a Duplex, Not a Room Rental

Projected rent can help you qualify on a legitimate 2-4 unit property through an appraiser's market rent analysis. It generally doesn't work the same way for renting bedrooms.

The FHA 203(k) Loan, in General Terms

How renovation financing lets you roll the purchase and the rehab into one loan — who it fits, the tradeoffs, and the questions to ask a lender.

House Hacking on One Income

Buying and running a house hack as a single buyer — what changes, where the risk concentrates, and why the strategy often fits one income better.

How to Actually Fund Your Second Property

Equity is not cash. The three ways house hackers turn a first property into a second — HELOC, cash-out refinance, or saved cash flow — and the tradeoffs.

Once you know what you can qualify for, it's time to find out whether a specific property actually works.

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