Category: House Hacking

A few weeks ago, I wrote this Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing in Oakland, in which I detailed how to invest in small multi-family properties using a technique called house hacking, in which you live in one unit and rent out the other(s), having your tenants help pay down your mortgage. However, though it all sounds good in theory, I know that it can be quite daunting to take that first step. How do you find the right property? How do you analyze the numbers to make sure it makes sense? How do you deal with being a landlord?

In a world where bigger is often better, an interesting phenomenon has emerged: the tiny house movement. Over the past several decades, the trend has been toward bigger houses on bigger lots. While the average home size in 1950 was under 1,000 square feet, that figure has now surpassed 2,600 square feet. That’s huge! We would need walkie talkies to communicate with each other.  Okay, maybe not, but walkie talkies are just fun. Anyway, back to tiny houses. This growing fascination with tiny houses and tiny living has emerged from the interest in living simpler and more efficient lives. Source:

Update 9/2/19: Since writing the original version of this article, we’ve helped around 25 families use this strategy to get into a home in an increasingly challenging market. Our passion has led us to creating a free, in-person class so we can reach more people. Information on the next session can be found here: http://events.dickersonrealty.com I live in North Oakland, one of the hottest neighborhoods in the Bay Area. Homes here are routinely listed near a million dollars and sold for over a million. I’m not one of those people who bought my home 25 years ago for $50,000. I