FHA Streamline Product

[Christopher Morris]

I tried looking into this from a few avenues and haven't come to a conclusion. 

I started my first FHA house hack back in November 2023. Being that my year living here is coming up, I was hoping to refinance into conventional and buy again with the 5% Fannie Mae.

But... I started looking into the FHA streamline product and spoke to my lender about it. Roughly, it seems I could save $350-500 a month in payments with the current interest rates using this FHA streamline. (going from 6.75 to 5.5-5.75)

What I fear is that this forces me to stay in the property again for another 12 months. Is that true? I was hoping to be onto my second house hack in Q1 of 2025. 

Anyone with the expertise that can help me out with this situation?  

Thank you! 

[Zack Karp]

@Christopher Morris so here's how this works. If you refinance it as your primary residence, then yes, you will be signing a new Mortgage at closing that says you intend to occupy for 12 months, essentially resetting your clock to another 12 months.

But here's the huge kicker. You can do a FHA streamline refi on an investment property, and the rate is the same as a primary. So, wait until you buy another primary residence first using the 5% down Conventional, and THEN do the streamline refi on your existing property as an investment property. Same rules, same guidelines, same rate, just no occupancy requirement.

Working with the right loan officer makes all the difference...

Best of luck!