Rental income from a rented room in primary sfr to qualify?

[Joe P.]

If I rent out a single room in my primary home can I use that rental income towards my 2 years of landlording experience and use the rental income to help qualify for a mortgage on another house?  I am interested in house hacking and buying a new owner occupied place every year or two.  It seems as though if I buy a sfr I would have rent it out for two years without living there before I can get another house unless I can qualify for a second mortgage.  Am I correct?

[Stephanie Medellin]

@Joe P.  You're not going to be able to use income from a rented room (aka "boarder income") in your single family home to help qualify with most loans.  As far as I know the only exception is the HomeReady loan. If you can document a 12 month history of living with the same roommate (and receiving rent from that roommate) that will live in your new home, boarder income may be allowed under this program.

https://www.fanniemae.com/content/fact_sheet/homer...

One other issue if you plan to buy a 2-4 unit after living in an SFR is proving that you truly are going to move into a duplex or triplex. Single family homes are typically more desirable, so it's harder to prove that you'd want to move from a home to an apartment and qualify for owner occupied rates / terms.