Jordan Moorhead
Jordan Moorhead has been a guest on Collecting Keys, the real estate investing podcast hosted by Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and Dylan Koch.
Building The Rental Property Snowball with Jordan Moorhead
Jordan Moorhead, an Austin-based realtor and investor, walks through how he went from no money and a personal training job to a portfolio built almost entirely off house hacking. He breaks down the numbers on his first duplex, why he kept repeating the strategy for six years, and when it makes sense to switch to a live-in flip or bring on a partner. Mike and Dan add their own experiences with live-in flips, 1031 exchanges and paying capital gains instead.
Key takeaways
- Jordan's first house hack was a $182,000 duplex with about $6,000 down (borrowed from his IRA) plus $3,000 borrowed from his dad for rehab; he lived there for free plus $500/month by renting the upstairs unit and two of his three bedrooms. He later sold it for $327,000.
- House hacking works with low-down-payment owner-occupant financing (3-5% down) and, if you live there two of five years, the gain can come out tax free — a big edge over flipping, where you'd pay short-term capital gains.
- A 1031 exchange isn't always the right move. Mike ran the numbers on an Austin purchase and found the loan costs roughly equaled the tax bill, so he paid the taxes and kept unencumbered access to about $200,000.
- Jordan never paid more than $700/month to live over six years, letting him save 50%+ of his income and compound it into more deals. With a partner who handled boots-on-the-ground operations, they bought 36 houses in 18 months, mostly in Louisville.