Sorry if this has been posted somewhere. I couldn't find it. It is my understanding that Fanny and Freddie require 2 years of landlording experience to count future rents towards qualifying for a residential mortgage. Please correct me if I am wrong. My question is does this also apply to a loan on something with 5+ units? My wife and I are planning to sell our house (We paid too much. It won't cash flow as a rental) to get started. We would like to purchase a rental first before getting another house for us. We will likely only qualify for one mortgage, so I am exploring what options we may have during the first 2 years of getting some landlording experience. I have my eye on an 8 unit that we can afford and will make a nice cash flow. It would be nice to get into that, and a more reasonably priced house without having to wait 2 years. Thanks in advance for the help.

Originally posted by @Jeff Goff :
Sorry if this has been posted somewhere. I couldn't find it. It is my understanding that Fanny and Freddie require 2 years of landlording experience to count future rents towards qualifying for a residential mortgage. Please correct me if I am wrong. .

 That's actually an overlay. :)

You can even be a first-time homebuyer and count the rental income if it's just a vanilla Fannie loan. 

Not all lenders are investor friendly. Dial for dollars until you find one that is. Good luck!