FHA Loan Info

[Bart Van Leijsen]

Good evening everyone,

I am curious if I can still purchase a house with an FHA loan even though I currently own a home where I put 20% down. Me and my wife are thinking about moving in the next year or so and I am hoping that we can put 3.5% down on a house which allows us to invest more into a investment property.

I appreciate everyone's knowledge!

[Brandon P.]

Hello Bart,

Since no one has answered this yet, I will give my two cents. My initial answer for this would be yes. You can use FHA for a second home, if you use that home as your primary residence. Which it sounds like you and your wife would be doing just that.

Best,

Brandon

[Andrew Freed]

@Bart Van Leijsen - Absolutely as long as it will be your primary residence and you plan on living in it for 1 year. You cannot utilize a FHA loan for an investment property.

Additionally, if you are planning on househacking your next property, consider a 5% down conventional loan instead. It has a ton of benefits that the FHA loan does not have including lower closing costs, the ability to get out of PMI once you hit 20% equity, and no FHA self sufficiency rule which becomes problematic on 3-4 unit properties. I used a 5% down conventional on my last house hack and I definitely prefer them over FHA loans. You also can utilize a VA loan if you are a veteran which is a great househacking product.

[Alan Asriants]

Yep you can still utilize an FHA loan. there are some guidelines and the lender will ask why you are moving from a Single family to a multi family for instance, but with the proper explanation you usually can justify it.

Talk to your lender and see how you can qualify for FHA in the scenario that you are in, if they know your file well they will be able to better point you in the right direction

long story short, it is possible.