Hello BP

Thanks for all the great info on the site.

We are looking to start our passive income life as a young couple and looking to buy our first rental property. I'm self-employed and because of this I know I might have a harder time getting a loan. We were initially thinking of buying the first property for ourselves, but since we live in Miami, prices here have skyrocketed and feel that paying 200+ for a 1/1 condo plus crazy HOA fees is not a very savy investment.

So instead we are looking to buying a Single Family about 30m - 1hr from here.

My question is, I'm highly interested in the HomePath program, will the lender count my cost of rent towards my Debt-to-Income when it comes to getting a loan. I want to make sure that I have everything planned out since I know I might have a harder time since I'm self employed.

Also how long do we have to stay in a Homepath property if we buy as owner-occupants, fix it up and then rent it.

Thanks for all the ideas in advance.

@Santiago Sosa the process for self employed is more difficult. I suggest meeting with a few lenders and running the numbers first before looking. They will tell you what your max is before looking and the process will be much easier. That being said, any FHA or Owner occupied property will require you to live there for 1 year before renting it out.

If you are buying non owner occupied, you will need 20%-25% down and by lending standards you cannot use the rent to qualify for the loan. But, our first property our lender did for a cushion. so it does depend on who you know. Good luck!