Rehabbing my FHA 4-Plex
I purchased a 4-plex back in June with an FHA loan and the intent of occupying a unit. upon taking ownership, the unit I was planning to occupy needed extensive cleanup, and I have not been painting and preparing to put in new flooring. I am wondering if I still need to be living in the unit while I am doing these repairs because of the FHA loan or if I can move out until the rehab is done. Any help would be great! Thanks!
Former loan officer here....Technically you are supposed to occupy within 60 days of purchasing the property, but it sounds like there are extenuating circumstances. Not sure how that would hold up if you ever got in trouble for it, but keep in mind there are no FHA police that are going to randomly show up at the property to make sure you are living there, so I don't think it is a huge deal to knock out the work in that room and then move in. Also, you mentioned "intent." Intent goes a long way in lending and if you truly intended to move in and there were unforeseen circumstances or anything beyond your control, it should pass the smell test and allow you to break the rule for the time being until the property is livable.
William nailed it... So long as the intent is there and you can prove it, you should be fine.
Earlier this year we were discussing FHA loans and the "live in" requirement with a lot of people in FL and the overwhelming majority got started in their investing career with these loans without ever living in the property. All of them had their mail sent to the unit and gave the tenant occupying the unit the rundown (typical FL stuff lol). Not necessarily the route I would go, but if those guys got away with that, I'm pretty confident that the "FHA police" William mentioned won't give you too much trouble!
