Husband/Wife individual FHA loans

General Real Estate Investing
8yFollow

Husband/Wife individual FHA loans

Jonathan Miller
Renton, WA · Member since 2017 · 16 posts · 2 votes

My wife and I excited to start out in REI! We have heard of some couples buying properties separately to take advantage and maximize FHA loans. I have a regular W-2 job and my wife runs her own business and also stays at home with the kids. Is there a good strategy we should follow in acquiring investment purchases? Should we apply separately? Which one of us should start investing first? Thanks!

0Reply
20 views

5 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Logan AllecBusiness Member
    Accountant · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 980 votes
    8y
    With FHA you have to live in the property at least a year. Are you guys cool with that with the kids and all?
    Clarita CPA Group516 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Mike CumbieBusiness Member
    REALTOR® · Brockport, NY · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    8y

    Hi @Jonathan Miller,

    If you two live separate (IE one in California and one in Indiana) then you can look into something like that. If you are living together then the owner occupant requirement for FHA will make it pretty much impossible, unless you wait at least a year between them and plan on moving from one to the other.

    Hopefully a mortgage person can come on with some specifics for you. Just both doing it separate could get you in hot water.

    0Reply
  • Jonathan Miller
    OP
    Renton, WA · Member since 2017 · 16 posts · 2 votes
    8y
    Thanks Logan Allec and Mike Cumbie ! My mistake, I meant to write Fanny and Freddy loans, not FHA.
    0Reply
  • Kyle Southard
    Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    I'm just getting onto this late, but hopefully it helps for others looking for this answer...

    I don't have any black-and-white text to back this up, but I'm sure it's legal for one spouse to use an FHA loan and then the other spouse to use the other FHA loan, as far as the guidelines are followed: in short, that the person using the FHA loan establishes the property as his/her primary residence for a minimum of one year.

    I could see this working in a situation where Spouse 1 is military and Spouse 2 owns a small business. Spouse 1 gets assigned to a year at the Pentagon, and the couple decides to live separately for a year: Spouse 1 will live in DC and Spouse 2 will live in their hometown. Spouse 1 uses his/her FHA loan on a house in DC. Spouse 2 uses an FHA loan on a house in his/her hometown. I don't see how that would be breaking any rules...unless there's something I'm missing!

    0Reply
  • Kyle Southard
    Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    Also...another scenario: Spouse 1 uses an FHA loan in 2016 on behalf of the family, but keeps the loan solely in his/her name...after a year or two that couple decides to buy a new home and rent out the old one. So Spouse 2 uses an FHA loan in 2018 on behalf of the family and keeps it in his/her name. Two legitimate uses of the FHA loan in my book...again, unless I'm missing something!

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free