August 24, 2024
Here’s how I started house hacking with Airbnb to live rent-free.
Making the Arrangement
Back in 2014, I owned a four-bedroom house.
I had two roommates, so my cost after they paid me rent was a couple of hundred dollars a month for my mortgage and utilities.
I made a deal with my roommates to try out Airbnb—I mean, who would say no to free money?
They agreed to stay with their girlfriends on weekends while we rented the place out.
I told them I would take $100 first for coordinating the Airbnb, which in hindsight was a deal for them, but at the time, it seemed fair.
The rest of it, we would split three ways.
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Growing the Business
Our first booking went smoothly, and everyone wanted to do more.
We started doing it more frequently as everybody wanted to lower their living expenses.
With my roommates rent and the airbnb income I was bringing in more revenue than my mortgage payment. Huge win for me in my mid 20’s!
This experience gave me my start with STR’s (short-term rentals), helping me understand the business model.
I continued to house hack and expanded my real estate ventures from there.
Conclusion
House hacking with Airbnb transformed my living expenses from paying rent to generating profit.
This simple strategy – combining traditional roommates with weekend Airbnb rentals – proved that a creative real estate solution can turn your primary residence into an income-generating asset. I love this as a way to start in real estate investing because it’s sooo low risk.
What started out as a weekend experiment turned into a sustainable real estate model, proving anyone can achieve financial freedom with the right plan and execution.
This article is based on a story that I told on my YouTube channel here.