Rental Property Investor · MA · Member since 2018 · 28 posts · 12 votes
I live in Massachusetts, work seasonally as a bartender on an island, and want to buy a house in Tennessee to live in the off season.
Every summer I make decent money working in MA so I would like to keep doing that and still qualify for an FHA loan in Tennessee. I would live in TN at least 6 months so it would qualify as a primary residence.
Some banks told me that I have to work in TN to buy a house there but I don't see the logic in that. If I make enough money doing what I do and I live enough time in the house to qualify as primary residence, why would it be a requirement to make less money working in TN.
Some banks told me that I have to work in TN to buy a house there but I don't see the logic in that. If I make enough money doing what I do and I live enough time in the house to qualify as primary residence, why would it be a requirement to make less money working in TN.
Your logic is spot on, no disagreements with that at all.
What you are finding is that some lenders are more or less conservative than others. You are also finding that some loan originators are "deal makers" and some are just "order takers."
Your seasonal work will have to be documented, packaged, and presented correctly to underwriting, but it's not really a crazy scenario at all. On a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is a pure order taker and 10 is pure deal maker, this is like a 4.... Just enough to rule out a lot of people working at the big banks, credit unions, and call centers. It would probably be about a 2 if you weren't crossing state lines.
Rental Property Investor · MA · Member since 2018 · 28 posts · 12 votes
7y
Yea I found myself explaining to the Loan Officer the requirements under the law for a property to qualify as a primary residence...thanks a lot I'll keep looking for a good one.