For owners buying the next property · New Orleans and Baton Rouge
Could you live in your next property for less than you pay in rent?
Beat My Rent is a deal screen for people who already own a rental and want to buy the next one by house-hacking a duplex or using a HELOC. Built by a Salesforce admin running the same search in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The first 10 people get a personal review of one property for $49. No payment now.
Example: an Uptown New Orleans duplex
FHA, live in one unit| At closing | |
|---|---|
| Price | $430,000.00 |
| Down payment, 3.5% | $15,050.00 |
| Every month | |
| Principal and interest, 6.75%, 30 yr | |
| FHA mortgage insurance, 0.55% a year | |
| Property tax | |
| Homeowner and flood insurance | |
| Total payment | |
| Rent from the other unit | |
| Net cost to live there | |
| Rent you pay today | |
| Difference per month | |
Net cost to live there
a month
Illustrative inputs, not a listing or a quote. Not counted: closing costs, the FHA upfront premium, repairs, vacancy, and utilities. The real review includes them.
Three answers before you tour anything
What you would actually pay
The monthly cost of a duplex or triplex after the other units' rent, set next to the rent you pay today. One number, not a spreadsheet of them.
What your equity can reach
If you own a rental, see how much a HELOC could put toward a down payment, and what that borrowing costs each month, before you start browsing.
What could go wrong
Every listing is checked for the problems that sink deals. Some of them are not visible in the photos.
The red flags it checks
- As-is or bank-owned
- May need a 203(k) renovation loan instead of standard FHA financing, which changes your timeline and cash needs.
- Flood exposure
- A high flood factor can add hundreds of dollars a month in insurance and erase the savings.
- Tax reassessment
- A sale can reset the tax bill. One building on my own list saw its tax jump 40% in 2024.
- Unusual sale history
- A sale between related parties or a sudden price swing can complicate the appraisal and the loan.
Where this stands
Right now Beat My Rent is a spreadsheet and a person. I will run your listing through the same cost model I use on my own search and send back a one-page verdict with the flags.
If enough people find that useful, I will turn it into software. If it says a deal is bad, it will say so.
Tell me your market, whether you own a rental, and what you want to do next. I will follow up by email.