Refinance HML with a 203K Loan

[Shawn Abe]

Does anyone know if you can purchase a property with hard money, and then refinance it with a 203k loan? I would by an owner occupant. The only reason for using hard money in the first place would be if they want quick closing. 

Also, can you use a 203k loan to buy an As-Is property? I know that the loan lets you wrap rehab costs into it, but does the property still have to be decent (would qualify for conventional financing)?

[Chris Mason]

Assuming everyone is following the law:

HML are non-owner occupied "business purpose" (ie, rental/flip/etc) only.

FHA 203k is owner occupied only.

I've seen cases where an FHA underwriter goes "wait a minute, the borrower either lied about occupancy intent when they took out the HML, or they are lying to us now, either way this is a giant red flag for fraud."

And I've seen other cases where the underwriter didn't notice or blink.