House Hacking

On one income, the usual advice is what makes buying feel out of reach. There is another approach: buy a house that brings in income of its own.

Rentometer dropped its free tier ($16-49/mo as of July 2026). Here is the 10-minute DIY comp method plus a free worksheet that turns five real listings into a defensible rent estimate.

Paid planners charge $129-144 a year to model rental income in a FIRE plan. This free projector runs investing-only vs house-hack scenarios side by side, saves in your browser, no account.

A free BRRRR calculator that models the full cycle: cash in, cash back at the refinance, capital left in the deal, and post-refi cash flow. No account, no use limits, unlimited saved analyses.

Run through the house hacking calculator, this $85,500 Cleveland side-by-side double covers itself: with 3.5% down on an FHA loan

A free Mashvisor alternative built for first-time house hackers: run duplex numbers without the subscription, with no account required and no run limits.

A free DealCheck alternative for house hacking is a calculator built for living in the building you buy, since DealCheck

Sweat equity is defined as the value you create in a property with your own labor instead of paid labor,

The number in most people’s heads is the investor number: 20 to 25 percent down, plus reserves. There’s a much cheaper door in, and it’s the one I actually used.

A concrete breakdown of the cash it actually takes to buy a two-unit home you live in, and why the number is usually smaller than people assume.