% Down for FHA

[Krupa Patel]

Hi, 

I have been planning on purchasing my first property ever. My plan has been to buy a fourplex (all four units under the same roof), be an owner occupant in one of the units, and put 3.5% down. From the forums on here a lot of people have been able to do this.

I identified a property that I like, but I have had a mixed bag of responses from lenders on whether I could buy with just 3.5% down. Of the 3-4 lenders I've spoken to so far only 1 of them (Chase) has said that I can purchase a fourplex with 3.5% down and be an owner occupant. The other banks have said something else ranging from that they'll require 25% down for a fourplex to that they will look at the income the property produces and not my income.

Some more background: I have a credit score that ranges from 769-799, I'd have a debt-to-income ratio of about 31% (based on my personal income) which I'm told for FHA is a very safe/good number. If I were to buy a single family home I could afford up to a 400K purchase price (with 3.5% down), but I'm trying to buy a fourplex for 315K-350K.

Basically, I'm told by lenders left and right that I'm a great risk, but other than Chase, I'd have to put more down.

The bottom line:

Why am I getting so much variation in my responses from banks? Can anyone clarify for me if there really are rules around FHA and the percent I can put down for an FHA? What has your experience been?