Thomas Collins explains house hacking, multifamily investing, and how to make your assets pay for your lifestyle—starting with your first property.

In this episode of RealDealChat, Jack Hoss sits down with Thomas Collins, founder of Shift Rich Academy, to break down one of the most powerful entry points into real estate investing: house hacking.

Thomas shares how a single conversation at his day job sparked a mindset shift that led him from renting at $1,400/month to owning a duplex where his tenants paid nearly the entire mortgage. He explains why multifamily properties (especially duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes) are the smartest first move for new investors—and how FHA loans make it possible with just 3.5% down.

The conversation goes deep into:

1. House hacking vs flips (and why HGTV gets it wrong)
2. Establishing your buy box when you plan to live in the property
3. Using short-term rentals to dramatically increase cash flow
4. Costly mistakes with tenants, licenses, and partnerships
5. Why systems, virtual assistants, and AI prevent real estate from becoming another job
6. How confidence explodes after the first deal
7. Why waiting for “perfect” kills momentum

This episode is packed with real-world lessons, beginner clarity, and systems thinking for anyone sitting on the sidelines.

👉 Join Thomas’ free community: Skool.com → Shift Rich Academy

👉 Build systems & scale smarter: https://realdealcrew.com

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Make your assets pay for your lifestyle

01:00 – The conversation that changed everything

03:00 – First duplex: living for $130/month

04:45 – Why house hacking beats flips for beginners

06:05 – FHA loans & buying up to four units

07:10 – Establishing your buy box when you’ll live there

08:40 – Long-term vs short-term rental hybrid strategy

10:30 – Parents, college kids & house hacking

11:45 – Managing tenants vs hiring property managers

13:45 – Renting to friends (and breaking the rules)

15:00 – COVID lesson: licenses, paperwork & bad tenants

17:45 – Why communities shorten the learning curve

20:15 – Most expensive mistake: bad partnerships

23:00 – Biggest win: Airbnb pivot = 3X income

25:30 – The confidence shift after the first deal

26:50 – Systems, VAs & avoiding another job

29:30 – AI, calculators & filtering deals faster

31:15 – Shift Rich Academy explained

34:00 – Rapid Fire: lies, books & time-saving tools

#HouseHacking #RealEstateInvesting #PassiveIncome #ThomasCollins #RealDealChat #MultifamilyInvesting #FHAloan #RentalProperties #FinancialFreedom #InvestorMindset

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