How much landlording eexperience is needed to reuse VA loan?

[Jason Bohling]

So I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row in order to get my first rental property. My wife and I currently just own our primary residence here in Idaho and have a VA loan on it (I'm a veteran). Not long ago, the VA lifted the total cap on total entitlement amount so there is no need to refi out of a VA loan in order to 'free up' entitlement for a next purchase anymore. I spoke to our lender who I've used with each of my primary residences, and he said that if we were to keep and rent out this house, keeping the VA loan, and purchase a new primary residence with a VA loan to move into, in order to use the rent on the first home towards qualifying I have to have landlording experience. Given being able to get rock-bottom rates (we just refi'ed ours to 2.75%) with 0% down and no PMI, this is huge in a house hack scenario.

My questions are: 1. is this a local/lender-specific requirement or do all lenders have this when issuing VA loans, and 2. how much experience is needed, and 3. is it required to be shown on a tax return or will signed lease agreements suffice?

Thanks in advance!

[John Warren]

@Jason Bohling the other thing you can do is to hire a property manager for your current place. This is an easier work around than trying to prove land lording experience if you don't have any. One of my clients in Berwyn did this recently.