VA loan exit strategy

[Kevin Phu]

I'm trying to learn the best way to exit out of my VA loan. I currently have a VA loan on a 4br/2ba SFR that I am house hacking. For the past year I have been renting out two bedrooms which covers more than half of my PITI. The goal of this purchase was to significantly lower my out of pocket expenses, which it has. I have one tenant moving out and when I advertised the available room to employees at the govt agency I work for, I had 6 inquires on day 1. I have no doubt this pool of available renters will be available for quite some time. So theorectically, I could rent all four bedrooms out to individuals and cash flow on the property. That would leave me with no where to live though so I would have to find another property. I could use an FHA loan but I don't like the idea of PMI for the life of the loan. What are some ways I can refinance out of the VA loan so I can use it again? I can pay 0% down and no loan fees because I am exempt from it. I could

[Daniel Lehman]

@Kevin Phu depends on your equity position - how much is it worth and how much do you owe? Rate/term refinance now while you still live there, for better terms and the free up your VA. I am not giving you legal advice, but hypothetically if you were to refi owner occupied and intend to owner occupy - then hypothetically you found another property that you like that changes the original intention, you are hypothetically good to go. Hypothetically. You do have to make a strong “need” vs “want” case (closer to work, better for your family, etc) but it’s feasible. Other option is to refi as a rental conventional, and then intent doesn’t matter. Free your VA up and then house hack again. Make sense? Even with FHA you are going to need to make the case that you have a need to leave vs are an investor. Let me know if you have any questions. Here to help! Daniel Lehman USMC Veteran