Taking a portion of his profits from his first deal, Paul put money down on another house in Fort Worth. The previous investor abandoned the project mid-way, and there was so much work left to do. This house began to teach Paul a few lessons. Working with and communicating with different contractors and taking some not-so-great advice from other investors taught him to do work right the first time. Eventually this project crossed the finish line and Paul moved in and started renting out room by room to cover all his bills. It was then that the idea of doing the work cheaply started to show its flaws, and he saw how shortcuts lead to more work later down the line. Finally, two years later, the house is running out of projects to complete and to complete correctly. The financial lesson in this house was the power of house-hacking: Paul was able to bring his living expenses down to zero and even make a little money while living in a house of his own. Today the house has 5 bedrooms and Paul lives in one, while renting out the other four.