The purpose of house hacking is to build long term wealth while cash flowing or living for free depending on your strategy (Blog Post: Three Types of House Hacking). My wife and I decided to use the break-even (Rent – Mortgage = $0 to $499) strategy with a goal to cash flow above $500 once we move out. Since this is our strategy, when analyzing our first deal and future deals, we examine our numbers with a focus on how we can live for free by breaking even then shifting to cash flowing once we move out. Analyzing deals this way has led to us walking away from deals that looked good at first but turned out not to make sense long term because of our strategy. While analyzing your deal, the question you should ask yourself is: When I move out, will we cash flow? No matter your strategy, this question will keep you on the right track to achieve your house hacking goals.