Deal of the Week: Running an $85,500 Cleveland Double Through the Calculator

This is the first entry in a weekly series. Each week I take one real listing from a metro where the house-hacking math tends to work, run it through the free calculator with assumptions I state in full, and spell out what the numbers do and do not tell you. I have no connection to any listing featured, and a blog post is not due diligence.

The building

This week: a side-by-side double at 3597 E 154th St in Cleveland’s Mount Pleasant area, 44120. Four bedrooms and two baths across 2,190 square feet, two units, listed on Zillow at $85,500 as of July 18, 2026. Cleveland’s east side is full of doubles like this, built for exactly the arrangement house hacking revives: the owner on one floor, a tenant on the other, one mortgage between them.

The assumptions

Every number below is an input you can change, and the point of stating them is that you should argue with them:

• 3.5% down, FHA, at this week’s average 30-year rate of 6.55% (Freddie Mac). On an $85,500 price that is $2,993 down.
• Other unit rents for $1,050. HUD’s FY2026 Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in the Cleveland metro is $1,279. I used less than that on purpose; street-level rents on a specific block can sit well under the metro figure, and I would rather the surprise run in your favor.
• $1,900 a year in property tax and $1,400 for insurance — estimates. Verify the actual tax bill with Cuyahoga County and get a real insurance quote before believing anything.
• 15% for maintenance and capital reserves instead of my usual 10%, because this is hundred-year-old housing stock at a price that says it needs attention.
• 5% vacancy, no property manager, 3% closing costs.

What the calculator says

With those inputs, the full payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, FHA mortgage insurance) comes to $844 a month. The other unit’s $1,050 covers all of it with $206 left over, so the effective housing cost while you live there is below zero. After you move out and both units rent, the projection shows $796 a month in cash flow on roughly $5,558 of cash invested.

You can open these exact numbers in the calculator and change anything you disagree with. That link is the whole analysis, live.

What the numbers do not tell you

Returns this large on paper are a message, and the message is usually about condition. A double at this price in this market has likely deferred maintenance an inspection will find: roof, mechanicals, knob-and-tube wiring, foundation. FHA financing adds its own hurdle, since the property has to pass FHA appraisal and minimum property standards in as-is condition, and many cheap doubles do not without repairs. Budget for the inspection first, then re-run the numbers with a realistic repair figure added to your cash invested, and check what units on that specific street actually rent for rather than trusting a metro average. If the deal still works after all of that, it works. If this particular one is gone or fails inspection, the search filter that found it takes thirty seconds to recreate.

Found a listing you want run through next week’s entry, or want a second set of eyes on your own numbers? Send it over.