Loan Options - Primary Residence vs. Investment Property rules

[Thomas Cuddihy]

Hi, all! My name is Thomas and I am at the VERY beginning of my real estate investing journey. Bigger Pockets has helped my confidence to get started, so I'm very excited to be here. 

I currently reside in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is a fairly expensive market to buy/sell real estate in. I was having a conversation with a friend who invests in real estate, and I told him my concerns about having enough cash for a investment property. 15%-20% down to secure traditional financing is a lot of dough, but my friend suggested that I apply for a loan as a primary resident, and then rent it out anyway. I feel like that's a "too good to be true" scenario, but I'm not sure if that's something folks here have done before.

So there's my question: is it possible to apply for a loan as the primary resident, and then rent out the property? Is there a time limit before I can do that? Or, better yet, am I thinking about this all wrong? 

 Any help is much appreciated-- thank you, all!

[Russell Brazil]

Welcome to BP @Thomas Cuddihy.

Do people do that? Absolutely. 

Is that mortgage fraud and a federal crime? Absolutely.  

In the past have lots of people gotten away with it? Absolutely.  

Are more people currently being prosecuted for owner occupancy mortgage fraud than in the past? Absolutely.