House-Hack Domicile Requirements

[Zachary Wilder]

I am gearing up for my first house-hack but have run into something that COULD be a problem. For my full time job, I may be required to spend time outside of the country in 1 month intervals on a project. These trips could happen 3-4 times over the course of the year (so potentially a quarter of the year).

I understand to achieve a 3.5% down FHA loan, I am required to live in that property for at least 1 year to avoid any legal tie ups. Do I need to be physically living in my primary residence for 365 days? Or do I have the flexibility of traveling for work, and simply keeping this as my primary residence when I'm not away for business is sufficient to satisfy the 1 year requirement.