Paradise, TX · Member since 2017 · 9 posts · 0 votes
I can't find much on this particular situation, so no one may really know.
The wife and I have been heavily contemplating the idea of moving out of our house into my guest house on the property and renting the main house. We have 5 acres out in the country. I want to make sure I am covering my bases with what I need to do beforehand.
I have a VA Loan, so I do believe that I am going to have to refinance so that I can rent it out. Correct? (This whole, I am still living on the property is where it gets confusing) Should I treat this like a duplex property? Its not really attached to one another though.
Can I still claim homestead exemptions? I read that if you rent out rooms, you can still claim it. How would this work under my situation?
The main loop hole that I keep thinking of, is that the guest house was here when I bought it. And I don't believe that my loan ever really clarified that there were 2 houses on the property. Can I use this to my advantage or would that be just asking for trouble?
I bought a rental and it had been rented out while financed under a VA loan. I believe, just as in traditional and FHA loans, the owner occupant on a VA loan is only required to obtain the loan and not for the life of a loan. You would have to refinance if you wanted to rent your house and buy a new house under the VA program. There is a one loan limit.
Found my VA appraisal where they grouped it as one property (with the guest house). I would assume I am good to go, but will double check with the mortgage company.
I bought a rental and it had been rented out while financed under a VA loan. I believe, just as in traditional and FHA loans, the owner occupant on a VA loan is only required to obtain the loan and not for the life of a loan. You would have to refinance if you wanted to rent your house and buy a new house under the VA program. There is a one loan limit.
I believe it is for the life of the loan, according to everything I'm reading for a conventional VA loan.
"Note that there are no exceptions, mentions of a “one year rule” for occupancy or other clauses that allow a borrower to move out of the property after a specified amount of time."
If it's a VA IRRRL, then they can get away from the occupancy rule.
As far as how to treat your property for tax purposes I recommend you look on the IRS. gov site. You will get to depreciate your house. One thing to consider is if you sell after having rented your place out for over 5 years you may not be able to pay no capital gains on your gains without moving back into the house for 2 years (but not sure how that would work as you are living on the property)
@Blake Sherrill You are required to owner occupy the property for at least 1 yr. After that you can actually buy an another property and move. You can leave the VA loan in place. No need to refi it unless, you want to use it again for the new purchase. As long as you keep making the payments, the mortgage lender doesn't care.
Check the property records and with the county to make sure that you are Ok to rent the main house and live in the guest house.