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House Hackers

From renter to investor, one decision at a time.

YEAR 3 · Q2DUE 6 DAYS
412 Marlow Street
Duplex · rent roll $2,350/mo
ASK
$248,000
FLOW
+$4,120
CAP
6.8%
MAKE OFFER

A real estate simulation game where players manage credit, debt, renovations, property acquisitions, and cash flow on the path from renter to investor.

What it does

Credit and debt decisions with consequences
Renovation and acquisition scenarios
Cash-flow management under pressure
A progression from renter to investor
Turn 1 · Renter · $16,000 saved Twelve months ahead
Move A Hold and save Stay renting. Bank the difference.
Move B Buy the duplex 5% down. Live in one side, rent the other.
Move C Clear the card first Pay off $4,800 before you borrow anything.
Move D Buy the turnkey condo 20% down. Rented, managed, no work.
Month 1 $14,500 down and $4,100 in closing. A tenant moves into unit B on the 15th.
Cash −$18,600 Equity +$14,500 Debt +$275,500
Month 2–8 Rent covers most of the payment. You cover $340 a month to live in your own building.
Cash −$2,380 Credit +9
Month 9–12 Principal comes down every month and the block appraises slightly higher.
Equity +$6,800 Debt −$2,600
After twelve months
Cash −$20,980
Equity +$21,300
Debt +$272,900
Credit +3

You pay $340 a month to live somewhere you own, and the tenant pays down the rest. This is the move the game is named after.

Four numbers, and only four

Every move in the game changes at least one of them, and the colour never changes meaning. Green is money coming in, red is money owed, gold is the part you own.

Cash flow What is left after the mortgage, taxes, insurance and a vacancy set-aside. Not rent, and not profit on paper. Green when positive, red when not
Equity The part of the property you actually own. It grows from principal paid down and value genuinely added. Gold, and gold means only this
Debt Every dollar borrowed, priced. Cheap debt buys an asset; expensive debt buys time you pay for twice. Red at any size
Credit The score sets the rate, and the rate decides what the next property can carry. It moves slowly in both directions. Neutral — it is a condition, not a result

Renter to investor, in three stages

A stage ends when the numbers say it does, not when a level counter says so. You move up because the portfolio can carry the next move without your salary underwriting it.

Renter
Turn 1–12 · one income

Savings, a card balance, and a rent payment that buys nothing back. Every move is about clearing the way to the first purchase without wrecking the score that makes it affordable.

Goal: a deposit banked and a score that prices well

House hacker
Turn 13–36 · one property, two doors

You live in one unit and rent the other. The tenant covers most of the payment, the shortfall is smaller than the rent you used to pay, and the principal comes down whether you think about it or not.

Goal: the payment covered without you in the maths

Investor
Turn 37 onward · a portfolio

Cash flow from the first properties funds the deposit on the next. Refinancing, renovation and timing start to matter more than salary, and a bad month somewhere is survivable.

Goal: the portfolio buys the next property, not your job

A game, not advice

House Hackers models real mechanics — amortisation, loan-to-value, credit scoring, vacancy, closing costs — on round numbers and a compressed clock. It is built to show how the decisions relate to one another, not to price a particular property or recommend a particular move.

Built for

Future builders, new investors, and anyone learning the fundamentals through play.

Access

Coming to the App Store and Google Play

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