Posted by Kim (FL) on July 31, 2001 at 14:31:27:
Hi, I’m a lender who deals with FHA daily. You can only have ONE FHA loan at a time. If you have a FHA loan and you want to lease that home (or L/O it or any other method) and buy another home – you’d have to refinance the first home into a non-FHA loan or purchase your 2nd home with a loan that’s NOT FHA. You can NOT ever have 2 FHA loans at one time. The occupancy requirement is one year – but that means nothing in this discussion. That rule is just telling you that FHA won’t call the loan due if you’re using it as an investment after you’ve occupied it for a year.
Now, with that said - you can be a NON OCCUPYING CO-borrower on other FHA loans. They are VERY strict regarding the non-occupying status and you MUST be the co-borrower and you must be a relative. But, they do allow a person who has a FHA mortgage to assist a family member in qualifying for a FHA loan. The one time I’ve done this I’ve had underwriters fight with me saying no and I took my HUD manuel to them to show them the guideline. That sounds like an odd thing because it just kind of goes against the grain of the standard “one and one alone” rule but you can assist if you can qualify with your current housing and the new housing (takes a great co-borrower).
Good luck!